Havoc Squad
by mickeymcp
Summary: Solasta Dinn is recruited into the Republic's elite Special Forces team known as Havoc Squad to assist with finding a stolen ordinance on Ord Mantell. It's been three years since she graduated from Carida Academy, but now she must return home. **NOTE: Spoilers will be contained within for the SWTOR Trooper story arc.
1. Chapter 1

Solasta's squad were on foot conducting their security sweep and looking for a gang of smugglers in the Bacta Warehouse District on the planet Rendili when the comm relay snapped to life and the driver of their ground transport spoke, "We're being recalled to Base. Be prepared for pickup in four minutes at these coordinates, and Dinn, the Base Commander has requested you report to the office at his quarters ASAP. Over."

The squad Captain spoke into his comm and asked, "Corporal, why would the Commander be asking for you at... oh, look it's 03h15, when he should be in bed sleeping?"

"I don't know, Sir. This is as much a surprise to me." Solasta said into the comm in her helmet.

The entire ride back to base the captain complained at having to pull his four squads from patrol before they had completed their sweep. Solasta sat quietly trying to figure out why they were told to return to the base in the middle of the night, and more importantly why the Commander would ask for her specifically.

When they arrived at the compound, the driver parked the armored walker and they could hear the engines powering down when the green light above the door lit up to let them know the driver had disengaged the mag-locks on the rear gantry and it would now be safe to open the door and lower the ramp.

Solasta hoisted her plasma cannon over on shoulder and grabbed her gear before heading down the ramp onto the grey concrete where she was approached by a very official looking Lieutenant wearing a formal dress uniform, perfectly shined boots, and not a trace of having seen a single battle about her. The Lieutenant immediately studied her and scrutinized the Cathar that was dressed in combat armor, before looking at her data pad, then back at Solasta a second time. "Corporal Dinn." she asked.

"Yes Ma'am," Solasta replied, and gave a stiff salute to which the Lieutenant said, "Follow me," and started walking towards the speeder that was waiting for them.

"Lieutenant, I'm still in Field Dress and would prefer to change before meeting with the Commander," Solasta said. The Lieutenant stopped to look her over before saying, "You're fine the way you're dressed Corporal. The General does not like to be kept waiting," and motioned towards the speeder. During the brief four minute ride from the compound to the Commander's Quarters neither the driver nor the Lieutenant spoke a word to Solasta.

Arriving at the Commander's Quarters she was ushered inside the modest building, which had an office space just inside the entrance for the Commander to conduct business when he wasn't at the Administrative Building, and his living quarters attached directly behind it.

When she was shown into the office she noticed the many pictures of battles from planets across the galaxy that hung on the walls, the large padded chairs for visitors to sit in, and the Commander who was sitting at his desk in a housecoat, clearly having been unexpectedly woken from sleep by the guest sitting across from him. In one of his chairs sat an older woman who was dressed in a formal Republic Uniform and wore the rank of General.

Addressing both she stood to attention, saluted, and said, "Corporal Dinn reporting as requested, Sir."

The Commander, who looked tired and haggard, said, "Corporal Dinn, this is General Garza and she has just traveled from Coruscant to speak with you."

The General rose and said, "Thank-you Commander, you can leave us. Please shut the door on your way out so that we have some privacy"

The Commander hesitated before rising from his chair, clearly irritated at having been woken from sleep and now put out of his own office. "If you require anything, just press the comm and someone will assist you," he said as he left the office, closing the door behind him.

"Please be seated Corporal," the General invited.

Solasta said, "Ma'am, if it's all the same I'm still field dressed and would prefer to stand."

"Oh, I'm sure the Commander won't mind if you sit on a chair in your armor." said the General and motioned for Solasta to sit while she took at seat the Commander's desk, so Solasta sat.

"I've reviewed your record Corporal. You completed Basic Training, graduated in the top of your class for both Specialization and Combat School, and was promoted to the ranks of Specialist, then Corporal. You have been stationed here for almost three years and have not formed any real bonds with any of your fellow soldiers, a loner if you don't mind me saying so, and have a few minor reprimands for not following orders in the field -"

Solasta spoke up to say, "Ma'am, in each instance I was proven to have tactically made the right decision when I had to improvise on the fly."

The look of surprise in the General's eyes quickly turned to disapproval as she furrowed her brow at Solasta for interrupting her, and said, "Corporal it is this quick thinking and improvisation that I need. You finished Carida Academy a promising soldier but have sat on this planet since graduation not advancing yourself, which oddly will have worked in your favour, and makes you an inconspicuous asset for a special mission. What we're about to discuss is classified information that you will not discuss with anyone outside this office, do you understand Corporal?"

"Yes Ma'am" Solasta said.

"Your father served the Republic Navy with distinction, you were raised on Ord Mantell, and your Birth Registry is listed as Nar Shadda. With only a few small modifications to your file, we could present you as a native from Nar Shadda even though you have extensive knowledge of the Avilatan Regions on Ord Mantell, which makes you uniquely qualified for what I need," General Garza explained.

"Which is what exactly, Ma'am," Solasta asked.

"Corporal, I would like to submit your file to the Commander of Havoc Squad, the Republic's elite Special Forces, for an opening in his team that needs to be filled. They are currently on Ord Mantell trying to locate an ZR-57 orbital strike bomb that the Separatists have managed to steal from the Republic," said General Garza

"General, I don't understand why I need to present myself as a being from Nar Shadda if you require my knowledge of Ord Mantell to locate a stolen ordinance?" Solasta asked.

"The SIS have reported some... anomalies with Commander Harron Tavus' communications, however with his squad's expertise in subversion it is proving difficult to determine if there is anything we need to be concerned about, or if this is a normal part of his operation, so I would like you to regularly report back directly to me with how things are progressing. If there aren't any concerns you will simply have been promoted to Sergeant and joined one of the Republic's most elite SpecForces groups, but if there are concerns you will contact me immediately. This of course means you cannot divulge your familiarity with the planet or region. Understood?"

"Yes Ma'am, understood," said Solasta.

"Then you're on-board, Corporal?" asked General Garza as she stood. "Yes, Ma'am," replied Solasta also standing.

"Good then, I hereby promote you to Sergeant." said General Garza, "You will pack and be ready to ship out at 07h00 for transport to Ord Mantell."

"Ma'am?" asked Solasta.

General Garza smiled, then said, "Oh, I already took the liberty to submit your revised files to Commander Tavus and he's accepted your application."


	2. Chapter 2

Solasta left the Commander's quarters and shuddered in the cool morning air. The sun hadn't risen yet as she walked briskly across the compound, and the chill she had felt became a shiver as she wished that she had been allowed to change out of her combat armor when she had asked. Between the perspiration that built-up from wearing her combat armor inside the Commanders quarters, and her nervousness with meeting General Garza, the moisture was now evaporating under the black Cortosis-weave bodysuit she wore beneath her armor, making her feel cold and her fur prickly.

Arriving at the barracks, Solasta made her way down the narrow hallway to the wing where her squad were housed, and entering their dorm area she could see the rest of her squad, most of whom had already peeled off their armor, sitting around the table in the lounge. As she entered the room everyone's head turned to look at her, and her captain was the first to speak, "What did the Commander want, Dinn?" he asked.

Unsure of how much information she could share, Solasta only said, "Sir, I've been reassigned to Ord Mantell for search mission."

"What?" asked the captain and he grabbed his data pad and began keying at the screen. After a few moments he stopped and looking up at Solasta said, "Well, congratulations 'Sergeant' Dinn. It doesn't say what you're new posting is though."

"I wasn't told Sir. I was only told to be packed and on a transport at 07h00." she said, walking over to her bunk where she began removing her combat armor and tossing the pieces onto her bed. By this time her squad mates had crossed the room and were congratulating her, the captain slapped her hard on the shoulder saying, "Well congratulations all the same Dinn."

Grabbing her wash kit and a clean uniform she headed to showers. When she returned most of her squad had gone to the Mess Hall for breakfast, or had already climbed into their bunks to sleep through the day before they went back out on patrol that night.

This left Solasta in relative peace while she packed her gear and wondered how much had changed back home in the three years since she left to join the Republic Forces. Aside from occasionally checking her accounts to make sure the storage company was still receiving payment for her unit she hadn't given home much thought. Major Gegne didn't make it too far into retirement and had passed away of old age in his sleep almost a year ago, but now she was letting old memories sneak back into her mind and she forced herself to push the feelings back down, telling herself, "Tasa is gone, I need to move on."

All packed, she hoisted her pack over one shoulder and headed for the Shuttle Hanger where she sat alone waiting for the transport to arrive. Her pulse cannons would be shipped by transport so she only travelled with her sidearm strapped to her hip.

Checking her chrono she realized that the squad would normally have just finished their patrol and been on their way back to the Base if they hadn't been recalled earlier, and as she sat back and stretched out she could feel fatigue setting in and looked forward to sleeping on the transport while they traveled the hyperspace lane to Ord Mantell.

At 06h58 a plain looking transport shuttle landed outside the hanger without being announced or any ground crew rushing to secure it, and the pilot didn't power off the engines.

Solasta picked up her gear and began to walk outside towards the shuttle thinking it must be behind schedule if they expected passengers to board or disembark and still leave for the scheduled departure at 07h00. Approaching the ship as the ramp lowered she noticed the ship's hull only bore a Republic registry number, but otherwise lacked any Republic Forces markings. Reaching the bottom of the ramp she could see a soldier waiting inside the door of the transport who clearly wore a Republic uniform, but it didn't bear any rank or insignias to identify him either.

"Sergeant Dinn?" he called out to her.

Solasta simply nodded an acknowledgement, and the soldier said, "Hurry on-board, we have a tight schedule."

Once she had gotten inside, the ship lurched unexpectedly and the door shut as the pilot immediately began his ascent. Looking around Solasta was surprised to realize that the soldier who greeted her was the only other passenger on-board.

"Sergeant Dinn, come sit with me and we'll begin your briefing after you stow your gear," he said.

Solasta saw a gear rack and as she carried her pack to it she asked "Sir, You are?"

"I'm no one you will see again after our flight," was his reply.

They had broken through atmosphere before Solasta had even made it to the seat opposite her new unnamed friend, then they jumped to sub-light speed moments after they had escaped orbit. They were separated by a small table, on which a holo emitter sat next to a data pad.

The trip began with a briefing of the current status of the Separatist's movements in Avilatan Region and the soldier brought up a map that Solasta knew all too well on the holo. The soldier began a time-lapse replay of the skirmishes and red markers slowly dotted the region while he explained that it was only eight months prior the Separatists had managed to stage a surprise attack on Mannett Point. Republic Intelligence were unable to determine how the Separatists managed to capture such a large installation since they lacked the resources to move that many forces, that quickly, without being noticed. The organized crime syndicates that backed the Separatists were often too disorganized from the in-fighting to have also backed this. When this was completed, he looked at Solasta and warned, "There may other, yet to be revealed, players involved so you need to be vigilant."

They moved onto the mission that Havoc Squad was deployed on for the recovery of a ZR-57 Orbital Bomb.

As the soldier continued to work away at his data pad the images panned out to display the entire planet and a blue marker slowly traced across the face of the planet. From the numbers that were listed next to it, Solasta could easily determine it was at a high altitude as it traveled, but a quick flash red of the marker indicated it has been shot down and the numbers dropped rapidly to relive the transports descent until it made contact with the surface.

"As you can see from this footage that was recorded ninety-six hours ago," the soldier started, "the transport carrying the ZR-57 was shot down and crashed in Separatist territory, and Havoc Squad was dispatched immediately."

Solasta asked, "What is it with Commander Tavus that has the General concerned?"

"The less you know, the easier your job would be," the soldier told her.

"Understood," Solasta said, then narrowing her eyes asked, "So how does the General expect me to pass myself off as coming from Nar Shadda when the last time I was there I was... maybe Six Seasons old?"

Without looking up, the soldier said, "The General is actually counting on your quiet personality to keep you at some distance, and besides how often do you Ground Pounders reminisce about your childhood to each other?"

Solasta laughed and said, "Good point."

"Your files only needed to be adjusted so a history check with your application to General Tavus didn't present any connection to Ord Mantell," the soldier said, "and before you ask, you'll be operating on a SpecForces squad so the risk of being recognized by any of the locals has been calculated within an 'acceptable' threshold, but wearing you helmet whenever in public is recommended."

"Understood sir," Solasta said, but realized it would be the dry season and a full helmet would be uncomfortable.

The soldier reached into his pack, which had been lying on the floor next to the table, and pulled out a data pad that was encased in a military hardened case with a faded Havoc Squad insignia on it's back. Putting in on the table he slide it over to Solasta saying, "We have taken your new data pad and modified the bio-metric reader so that it will establish secured communications using only your DNA. When you wish to report simply unlock the unit and use the bio-metrics a second time before starting the comm-link, otherwise the option to contact me will not be present."

Solasta took the data pad and repeated the steps that had been explained, picking her thumb so that the saliva could be bio-scanned. When the comm-link accepted her bio-signature the only channel available was one named '[Classified]' that she pressed on the screen. Within moments the holo emitter on the table blinked signaling an incoming call that the soldier answered, and a smaller blue image of Solasta appeared.

"Very good, Sergeant," the soldier said as he switched off the holo, "now, if I recall correctly you would have finished your night patrol and be sleeping already, so feel free to recline yourself and sleep for the rest of your trip. I will come get you before we land," and he stood and walked to the door that separated the cockpit from the transport hold where he keyed the pad and walked through when the door opened.

Stretching back and reclining the seat in to a slightly less uncomfortable angle, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep immediately as exhaustion took over.


	3. Chapter 3

Solasta woke to a subtle sensation in her inner ear telling her that the ship had banked hard and the artificial gravity was trying to compensate when she heard the familiar sound of laser bolts screaming across the ship's deflectors as it tried to dissipate the energy. Looking to the spot on the ship's hull where the bolts would have hit she thought, "we've exited hyperspace but are we over Ord Mantell?"

She straightened her seat and looked around to find the soldier that briefed her but he had not returned to the cabin. Jumping to her feet, she ran to the secured door that separated her from the cockpit and tried pressing the door release, but it wouldn't open for her so she began pounding on the door with her fist.

"Sergeant Dinn, please return to your seat and strap-in. There's a small skirmish above the planet and we've nearly navigated through it." a voice announced over the com speaker.

Solasta returned to her seat and strapped into the harness as she felt the transport start it's descent through the atmosphere and various items in the cabin began to vibrate, then shake violently in-place, until they broke through to the smooth blue skies of Ord Mantell. As the shuttle slowed and began it's landing the voice came over the com speaker again and said, "We are landing at a small shuttle pad in Drelliad Village on the North Coast of the Island where you will rendezvous with a member of Havoc Squad. There is a freighter inbound behind us so you will need to be quick so we can clear the pad."

Solasta unbuckled from her seat and stood as she heard the engines cycle down for landing. The lights in the cabin flickered as she walked over to the cargo rack to retrieve her gear and she could feel the heavy ship make contact with the planet. Pulling her pack over her shoulder the sound of the cockpit door opening caught her attention and she watched as two petite human females, both dressed in uniform, walk through the doorway into the cabin. Walking to the rear of the ship, Solasta opened the exterior doors and they all walked down the ramp to the grated durasteel that covered the landing deck.

Walking towards the terminal she squinted her eyes briefly while they adjusted to the harsh change from the artificial lighting inside the ship to the bright afternoon sunlight outside. As she passed through the small terminal she had lost sight of the two soldiers that were with her and only saw a young man with long dreadlocks working on a shuttle inside a hangar as she passed.

Outside the terminal she entered a small courtyard and could see a large Republic armored personnel walker backed into the gateway with it's ramp lowered. Waiting next to it was a member of Havoc Squad, a male who stood a little taller than Solasta but was broad and clearly muscular even with his combat armor on. Solasta approached the soldier and stiffened her back before sharply saluting him, and in return the soldier gave a relaxed salute before motioning her up the ramp into the walker.

Onboard she racked her gear and walked to the front of the cabin past several other military personnel where she found a seat next to the soldier who greeted her. Solasta felt the stilted motion of the walker as it took its first few steps before settling into a smooth rhythmic motion. "Ah, there's no feeling in the galaxy like riding a 'hundred tonne walker right through the middle of combat zone, huh kid?" said the soldier, but before Solasta could answer the driver came over the com speaker, "We're outside Drelliad Village, sir. Scopes show small arms fire and enemy movements in all quarters. Separatist's are definitely moving on the objective- "

The Havoc soldier shutoff the com unit before the driver could finish.

Turning his head quickly to face Solasta he said, "Another beautiful day on Ord Mantell. You excited kid? Nervous? You know you're the first new squad member to join Havoc in some time." In a direct military tone Solasta replied, "I'll fight the enemies of the Republic with all I've got, sir."

This drew a laugh from the soldier before he said, "You can lose the formality, we're in the field. I'm Lieutenant Bex Kolos, but everyone calls me Gearbox. Let me tell you why we're here, the Sep's have nabbed a bomb off a downed Republic transport - a serious bomb, one of those orbital strike numbers."

Solasta asked, "Lieutenant-" but corrected herself, "Gearbox, do we have a fix on the bomb's last position or any leads?"

"There's no telling where these grimy bushwhackers have hidden it. They have popular support and hideouts everywhere, so finding this bomb won't be easy," he said. Solasta ignored his comments about the 'grimy bushwhackers' and focused her thought on who in the region would have the means and space to hide an orbital bomb without anyone becoming suspicious.

Leaning back in his seat, Gearbox said, "You'll get a full Ops brief when you reach Fort Garnik. For now, just sit back and-" but was cut off as the side of the walker was slammed hard. The soldiers inside were tossed around as a junction box on the wall exploded raining sparks down on them.

"Code Red! Code Red!" yelled the driver frantically over the com, "we've been hit by an AP missile that was launched from somewhere in the village! Everyone, hold on- " but was cut off as the walker was hit again and everyone was thrown back to the floor.

The walker's engines died and only the fighting outside could be heard as Solasta's eyes immediately widened to compensate for the near pitch black interior. She had gotten to her knees as the red flashing emergency lights began to flash inside the cabin, and before she could stand Gearbox was already on his feet pushing the com button, "Driver? Driver? Dammit, he's down."

Gearbox grumbled, "backwater Sep's aren't supposed to have armor-piercing missiles!" as he flung open the ordinance locker. Handing Solasta a blaster rifle, he led her to the walker's door and lowered the ramp while saying, "I'll stay and try to get the walker moving, you disable the Sep missile launchers. Understood?"

"Understood, sir" said Solasta as she shouldered her rifle she walked down the ramp to survey her surroundings. She estimated the walker had only traveled eighty to one-hundred meters from the village and the entire right side of the cockpit capsule was blown open by the Separatist's missile attack and the body of the driver laid slumped over inside. From their inclination on the hillside she mentally triangulated three probably locations that would have given an optimal firing solution and headed down to the village.

As she passed the gateway to the courtyard and shuttle pad where she had just landed, a scruffily dressed freighter pilot who was cursing at being grounded by the sep's passed her and they both darted into the village through a portion of the demolished wall that surrounded the village while Mantellian soldiers laid down suppressing fire. Once inside they nodded a knowing acknowledgment of 'good luck' to each other before separating and heading in opposite directions behind the row of buildings.

Reaching her first suspected position she only found empty ordinance crates, scorching on the ground from plasma fires, and blaster shot peppered across the wall next to her. She was about to work her way to the next location when the sound of voices caught her Cathar ears and she hid behind some stacked crates and waited several seconds until three separatist soldiers rounded the corner and began to inspect the same destroyed ordinance crates. When one of the soldiers walked a short distance away from his friends to scan down the roadway Solasta took this opportunity to sneak out and strike.

Solasta silently approached the two Separatists nearest her and in a fluid ballet of violence she raised her blaster rifle and performed a 'Stock Strike' with the butt end to the nearest separatist's helmet before rolling her back against his. Stretching out her right hand, she extended her claws and raked them across the other man's face while dropping into crouch and swung the rifle into position to fire a single bolt, killing the separatist who was furthest away and looking up the lane.

The first separatist crumpled to his knees in a daze from the blow to the helmet while the other man dropped his rifle to clasp his hands to his face, where a pained scream escaped him and blood began to trickle between his fingers. Solasta kicked the kneeling man onto his back and fired a single blaster shot into his chest before spinning and shooting the blinded and bleeding man.

Gearbox stood outside the disabled walker and observed all this through this macrobinoculars from his vantage point on up on the hill and murmured an impressed, "Hmm," before grabbing his com unit and signaling her. "Nice work, you got talent kid. No denying that. I didn't have any luck with this walker though. Finish your search and destroy those missiles, then head for Fort Garnik while I salvage what I can here."

"Acknowledged," said Solasta and she disconnected.

Gearbox initiated another call on his com and said "There's been a delay with transporting the payload to your location. The sep's have disabled the walker so we'll need a pickup."

Over the fuzzy static a voice said, "We'll send ground transport to your location. Where's the rookie?"

"Don't worry about the rookie, I sent her on a short hike into Drelliad. If the sep's in the village don't take care of her, the snipers on the hillside will," and he disconnected. Grabbing Solasta's bag he hurled it into some nearby bushes and said under his breath, "You won't be needing this, and you won't be screwing up our operation."

Along the way she didn't encounter any resistance that she couldn't sneak around until she came across a separatist patrol that blocked an alley between two buildings. "I don't recognize anything here, but I only visited Drelliad a couple of times as a child," she mused while taking an opportunity to look for anything familiar while waiting for the patrol to clear away.

When she was sure the patrol had moved far enough away she darted across the road to the building adjacent to her position and followed the wall to the corner and peering around it, she found the missile ordinances and counted four separatist's soldiers guarding them.

Making sure she had a firm grip on the blaster rifle, Solasta took a deep breath before stepping around the corner and charging the separatists while spraying them with blaster fire. She managed to hit one and the surprised woman fell cradling her arm, but by this time Solasta was close enough to let loose an explosive round that hit the crate of missiles. The crate exploded, throwing the separatists a few meters away like ragdolls while Solasta was throw backwards onto her ass.

Solasta struggled to get back on her feet and staggered back to the alley to wait for the ringing in her ears to stop before sneaking out of the village to find her way to Fort Garnik. Outside the walls of the village she joined two Mantellian soldiers who had taken cover behind a barricade.

"You look like you've just run through a fire," said one soldier and pointed to the soot and ash that covered Solasta from head-to-toe.

"Where are you headed soldier?" asked the second soldier.

"I'm to report to Fort Garnik," she answered.

"It's up the hill to the south-west of his position, but stay off the main roads there are snipers in the hills just looking to pick-off anyone wandering in the open," said the first soldier.

Solasta thanked them and stepped into the patch of overgrown bush directly next to the barricade but didn't go too far when she realized the branches on the ground crackled and snapped loudly beneath her heavy combat boots. Squatting down she undid the clasps on the boots and pulled them and her socks off. Stretching her toes, she tested her claws before setting out near-silently as her soft padded Cathar feet carried her silently through the underbrush of the hillside.

Slowly and carefully she moved up the hillside from the cover of rocks and bush, always scanning with her eyes and ears for any telltale signs of the separatist snipers. Near the top of the first plateau she took cover behind some rocks and scanned the hillside until she caught the barely perceivable barrel of a sniper rifle sticking out of a bush and pointed downhill away from her position.

Crouching to get herself as low to the ground as possible, she crawled towards the bushes that were a short distance away and waited to see if her movement had alerted the sniper to her presence.

Moving closer to the sniper's bush, Solasta strained all her senses and nose twitching discovered two distinct scents but couldn't hear any sounds or see through the dense branches camouflaging their position to be certain of how many people were there. Stealthily moving closer, Solasta managed to drop behind them to discover there indeed were two separatists, both sprawled out on their bellies, the sniper and a lookout who was scanning the hillside through a pair of macrobinoculars.

Stepping between the two separatists, Solasta pulled out her blaster pistol before she knelt and pressed her knee into the center of the lookout's back. Hearing the man groan under her weight she put a bolt into the sniper on her left at point-blank range, killing him instantly. Feeling a rage swell from within her, she pressed down over her knee with all her weight until she felt the breaths of the struggling separatist beneath her grow shallow and rapid. Holstering her pistol, she whispered, "This for all the pain and everything you separatists took from me," as she waited for the man to suffocate beneath her.

Rolling off the dead man, she sat and hyperventilated as the rush of anger and adrenaline that coursed through her body began to subside and she was left with a sick feeling over the perverse satisfaction she felt from killing the separatist. In her years in the Republic Army she had taken several lives but this was first time she felt any personal connection to the act and a sense of guilt washed over her since the life she just ended had nothing to do with the separatists that took the lives of those she loved four years prior.

Gathering her strength, Solasta picked up her rifle and continued uphill towards Fort Garnik with dried and crusted soot matted into the fur on her face from the tears that had dried there.

Passing the perimeter checkpoint after her identity was confirm, she was cheerfully greeted by Sergeant Jaynes, "Good to see Havoc colours in the field. Looks like you've been through an ordeal to get here - go see Specialist Tos to replace your boots before you go to HQ," as he pointed to a stall that was close-by.

"Thank-you," said Solasta as she headed over to the armor stores to requisition a new pair of boots.


	4. Chapter 4

As the shuttle that brought Solasta home broke free of Ord Mantell's atmosphere a single message was transmitted to the offices of General Garza on Coruscant, "Asset delivered."

* * *

Solasta locked the clasps of the new boots and tried to dust the soot off herself from the explosion in Drelliad Village, but only managed to grind the black powder deeper into the fabric of her uniform as she walked through Fort Garnik towards Headquarters. Noticing the steady stream of ground transports that passed her and soldiers that walked briskly between the buildings, she thought to herself, _everything looks the same but it's definitely not the quiet little base I remember as a kid_.

Arriving at the main entrance of HQ she bounded up the steps and through the door where she paused to admire the subdued military interior and sounds of many excited conversations coming from the rooms that branched off the main hallway. She only took a few steps when a young soldier standing at a data console noticed her and briskly approached, saluted her, and in a single breath said, "Excuse, Sergeant? Sorry to disturb you, but you're the new member of Havoc Squad, right? I'm Private Farn, and it sure is an honour to meet you. I'm to direct you to the rest of your squad who are in the Communications Room," and pointed to a doorway down the hall.

"Thank-you, Private," Solasta said and continued down the hall.

Rounding the corner into the main Com Center she noticed a group of soldiers gathered around a seasoned looking human male with short wavy brown hair and one of the biggest mustaches she'd ever seen. Solasta was always amused by species that didn't have fur who insisted on growing facial hair, and humans always made her grin. The group of soldiers wore combat armor with Havoc insignias, and she guessed that this must be Colonel Tavus and her new squad.

Mustering all her confidence, she strode across the room to the group where the Colonel was directing Havoc to focus their efforts on M-sector before her approach caught his attention.

"Sergeant! Welcome, welcome," the Colonel exclaimed as he broke through the group that surrounded him to greet Solasta.

Stiffening to address the Colonel with a salute, which he promptly returned as he said, "Good to have you here. I'm Colonel Harron Tavus, Havoc Squad's Commanding Officer. We're all excited to have some new blood in the unit."

As Havoc Squad fell in behind him, Colonel Tavus introduced the rest of the squad, "My Executive Officer, Captain Zora, is the squad's infiltration and assassination specialist. We call her Wraith." The slight Mirialan woman, who's cobalt-blue eyes made an striking contrast to her green skin, simply gave a nod and said "Sergeant."

"This is Fuse, Lieutenant Vanto Bazren, He's an expert with every explosive known in the galaxy," Colonel Tavus introduced next. The young Zabrak male looked like he was barely old enough to have graduated from the Academy, and this gave Solasta some comfort that she might not be the youngest in the Squad.

Solasta grinned and said, "Hello Fuse."

Breaking his eye contact with her, Fuse looked down at the floor and nervously shifted his weight from one leg to the other before saying, "Oh, uh, yes, hello Sergeant. Hello. Good to meet you."

"And this is Needles, Lieutenant Ryler Dorant. Needles is a medical genius with synthesizing powerful new combat stims and adrenals," Tavus introduced last.

Placing his hand over his heart and giving a half-bow, Needles said "Perfection is my art, Sergeant. It will be my honour to help you perform at your very best." He was clearly a Human Cyborg with the prominent collection of implants on his forehead and jawline, which wasn't unusual except for having the bluish-grey pallor of someone who was deathly sick.

 _I don't want anything this man creates or offers me_ , Solasta thought to herself.

"And of course, you met Gearbox on your way here, so that's everyone," the Colonel said before introducing Solasta. "People, this is the new Sergeant I told you about. First in her class at the Academy for Forward Assault, Search and Destroy, and Advance Recon."

Solasta nodded an acknowledgement and said, "It's a pleasure to meet all you."

"Let's begin the briefing," said Colonel Tavus, "The reason we're all here: A Republic transport, carrying a ZR-57 orbital strike bomb among it's cargo crashed in northern Avilatan six days ago. Recovery Unit sent a team, but they were too late. Separatists had already stolen the transport's cargo, including the ZR-57, and fled."

"Someone must have tipped them off," suggested Solasta.

"Yes, we've considered that but we don't have time to start searching for a mole. Recovering the ZR-57 is priority one," said Colonel Tavus.

Fuse added, "The ZR-57 is-well, it's serious hardware, you know? It can pretty much vaporize the whole island, so we'd better get it back, or well... boom."

Tavus continued, "We're investigating a number of leads on the bomb's location. Sergeant Dinn, the one I'd like to look into comes from a Republic spy named Bellis. He reported that he made an important discovery, but he's in too deep to exfiltrate for a full report, so instead you'll rendezvous with him in a nearby town called Talloran tomorrow at o'seven hundred. Find out what he knows, then report back to base immediately. Understood Sergeant?"

"Understood, sir" replied Solasta.

Something over Solasta's shoulder caught Tavus' attention and looking past her he said, "I have one last introduction to make. This is Lieutenant Aric Jorgan, an operations officer from the Republic's Ord Mantell Infantry Command."

Turning to the sound of heavy footsteps on the durasteel grated floor behind her she was surprised to see a fellow Cathar approaching, and for a brief moment she studied how the shade of beige in his chin and cheeks darkened into the rich tawny brown of his nose and forehead. Saluting Lieutenant Jorgan, she instinctively canted her head forward to express the Cathar equivalent of a polite greeting. The gesture was too subtle for anyone else to notice, but to her surprise the stone-faced Lieutenant simply returned her salute.

"Since we're on individual missions to search for the bomb, Lieutenant Jorgan will be coordinating our efforts from here," explained Tavus.

Jorgan placed one hand on his waist and pointed at Solasta with the other before grunting, "I'll be overseeing your op through the camera mounted on your armor, so what you see I see, and I'll make this perfectly clear, Rookie. When you're in the field, what I say goes. Period."

Straightening her back and raising her head to jut her chin outward, Solasta confidently said, "I can handle myself."

"The other members of Havoc have proven themselves dozens of times, you haven't Rookie," and a scowl crept across his face, "go find a bunk in Havoc's barracks and wash up. You're covered in dirt from head to... well maybe not toe, it seems your boots are the only thing you managed to not get dirty in the field. Get your meeting coordinates in the morning and make your way to Talloran, meet with Bellis to find out what he knows, and try not to screw anything up."

"Good luck in Talloran, Sergeant. Dismissed," said Tavus.

Solasta walked to the barracks where Havoc was staying and was surprised to discover that the large dorm room that would normally hold up to fifty soldiers was emptied for Havoc's exclusive use. Picking an empty bunk next the group that were clearly occupied, she wondered where Gearbox and her pack were, so she pulled out her com unit and called the vehicle compound to ask if anything had arrived from the crippled walker.

"Hold on I'll check," said the officer that answered, and after a few minutes of listening to the sounds of him keying on his data console he said, "No, nothing has been brought in from the field yet. I would suggest you just go see the Requisition Officer for new gear in the meantime."

Dragging her feet as fatigue began to set in from the day's exercise she made the walk back to the Requisitions Officer near the main gates where she waited in line behind a squad of Ord Mantell Security Officers for nearly an hour before getting served.

"What do you need?" asked the officer as he tapped impatiently on the counter that separated them.

"I just arrived today and my pack was misplaced so I have to replace my gear, sir" answered Solasta.

"Well, next time you can send a message with what you need to requisitions and I we can get it ready for you in advance, and before a full squad of Mantellian idiot's show up and waste both our time."

Flattening her ears slightly at the Officer's comment, Solasta lowered her voice and asked, "Can I have an order pad and I'll be out of here as quickly as possible."

Wasting no time, she selected a new uniform, under-apparel, cortosis body suit, and a field hygiene kit, before submitting her request. The combat armor plates, assault cannon, and plasma ordinances would be ready for her by morning, but she had to wait another half-hour for the rest of her items to be retrieved from the military stores. When her name was called by the officer at the counter she collected her parcel and thanked him for helping her before trudging back to the barracks and refreshers.

Reaching for the door to her barracks it opened and her new squad mates came walking out. "We're going to the mess if you want to join us Rookie," said Wraith.

"I need to shower first, but I'll catch up with everyone afterwards, sir," Solasta said, and passing Gearbox she asked, "Did my pack come back yet?"

Gearbox shrugged his shoulders as he walked past her and said, "We had to bug out and when we went back everything was stripped clean from the walker, Sorry kid."

Solasta sighed and continued into the building to stow her new gear and use the refresher.

* * *

Washed and wearing a clean uniform Solasta hurried to the Mess Hall to meet up with Havoc but they weren't anywhere to be seen when she got there. Checking her chrono it was almost eight o'clock and the dining area was almost empty, so she grabbed a tray and navigated through the cafeteria to get herself some dinner. Sitting by herself she ate and thought about everyone she had met that day.

 _Colonel Tavus, Wraith, and Gearbox seem okay. Fuse is really nervous for someone promoted to SpecForces, and Needles just makes the fur on the back of my neck stand on end._ _Only Lieutenant Jorgan's behaviour seemed odd. Regardless of military rank or protocol, every Cathar I've met recognizes a greeting... it's almost instinctual for us, so why wouldn't he notice it?  
_

Dropping her fork onto her tray and staring blankly she was unexpectedly struck by the realization that the data pad she was given with the special encryption protocols was also lost and she must be overdue for reporting to General Garza.

 _What do I do now?_ _If I try to contact General Garza directly, the communications would be flagged and reported to Colonel Tavus immediately. How long will Garza wait before her contacts try to find me? Will they even try? If I'm going to reach out and risk being exposed, I need to be absolutely certain there is a problem with this mission first_.

Accepting that she was on her own, for now at least, she lost her appetite and decided to return to the barracks where she found the lights were dimmed and Havoc were in bed sleeping, so without disturbing anyone she changed into her night clothes and climbed into her cot.


	5. Chapter 5

The sound of Solasta's chrono woke her from a dead sleep and she fumbled around, eyes still closed, trying to find the alarm to shut it off. She had set it to wake her an hour earlier than the general morning alarm so she could get dressed and have breakfast before the rush of the morning duty soldiers, but the sounds of the other Havoc members moving around the room told her she wasn't first up.

Rolling onto her back and stretching in her bunk she still felt exhausted but knew she had to get up and get moving, no matter how tired she felt from the time differences between Rendili and Ord Mantell. Turning her head to the left and opening her eyes she blinked several times to focus her vision and found everyone, except for Fuse and Needles, were already dressed and gone.

Both men stood next to their bunks fitting their armor plating and the bunks around them were neatly made. Noticing that Solasta was awake, Needles said, "You'll want to get a move on if you plan to get something to eat and make it to Talloran on time. Lieutenant Jorgan gets in an entirely unbearable mood if you're late."

Solasta nodded and smiled at Needles using the practiced grimace that didn't expose her teeth and mistakenly give him, what most other species perceived as, a threatening show of aggression. Needles simply looked at her quizzically, which didn't surprise her.

Sitting up and rolling her feet on the floor she felt a sense of satisfaction with planting her bare feet on her home planet again. Stretching her arms overhead and yawning she let out a soft 'chirrup' sound as Fuse was passing by. Fuse stopped to look at her in amusement but a shocked and embarrassed Solasta clasped her hands to her mouth, and from between her fingers said a muffled, "Oh my!"

Still smiling, Fuse said, "Needles isn't kidding, Jorgan can be a real miserable Cath- uh... I meant, Lieutenant Jorgan can..." the young soldier stammered, trying to correct himself.

Solasta's said, "That's okay, Fuse. I know my kind are both overly serious and emotional."

Fuse's expression changed to a blank stare and he said, "I... I'm not sure emotional is the word I'd use to describe Lieutenant Jorgan, but I guess angry is an emotion," as he continued towards the door to catch up with Needles.

Climbing out of her bunk, Solasta changed from her night clothes and began climbing into her black cortosis weave suit, which should have been form fitting to her body, but as she struggled to squeeze into the skin-tight outfit she thought, _they got my size wrong again. I'll have to wear my uniform to meet Bellis and straighten this out when I get back._

* * *

At the mess hall she got in line with a handful of other soldiers who were either also awake early or were going on duty, while officers occasionally walked down the serving line and cut in ahead of the soldiers at the various stations to get served first. Filling her tray with healthy portions of breakfast, some fruit, and various vacuum sealed ration bars she stepped into the main hall and looked for Fuse and Needles but couldn't see them, or anyone else from Havoc, so she sat at an empty table and hastily ate alone.

Solasta finished eating the hall had become filled with soldiers and their excited conversations banished the peaceful quiet she had been enjoying. Standing, she stuffed the ration bars into the leg pockets on her field pants before returning her tray to the dish room service window, and headed to HQ to find Lieutenant Jorgan.

Entering HQ, she went to the Ops Center and scanned the room from the doorway but couldn't see Lieutenant Jorgan, so she continued down the hallway to the Com Room where she read over the briefing notes for the meeting with Bellis while a Technician attached the camera to her uniform shirt next to her rank insignia and fed the thin power cable to the battery pack that was clipped to her belt.

Passing over the map to the village she thought to herself, _I know where Talloran is already,_ and searched until she found the village layout and studied the points-of-interests.

"All done," said the Technician as he stood back and admired his hand-work. Solasta handed him the data pad and said, "thank you," as she turned and left.

Passing the Ops Room on her way out Solasta looked in again and found Jorgan sitting at one of the control stations, staring at a monitor with an intense expression on his face. Deciding that she didn't want to interrupt him, she continued out of the building and walked towards the munition store's to pickup her armaments as the morning sun began to peek over the horizon making the distant sky change from purple to a grey.

Entering the heavily fortified bunker where the fort's weapons were stored she was scanned by the officer at the main desk before being directed to a large durasteel door. When it opened, she stepped inside a secured hallway and could hear it close behind her.

Walking to the middle of the empty hallway she stood inside a red box that was painted on the polished black floor and waited.

Looking to her right she noticed two soldiers behind a heavy flexiglass window with a blast shield partially lowered, and she was certain that it would slam closed if anyone did something stupid at this point, or if an alarm sounded. The hallway had a security camera mounted at ceiling level at the far end and large jets protruded from the ceiling, which Solasta could only imagine would dump a gas or a high-pressure blast of air to suppress anyone inside the space.

The soldiers busied themselves with running scans on her, and after a few seconds one of them spoke into a microphone, "Please proceed through the far door Sergeant Dinn."

Walking in measured pace the far door opened slowly to expose a small room with another thick flexiglass window, a wall mounted datapad beside it, and a large durasteel door mounted beneath it. Stepping inside the room, the security door closed behind her and the officer standing on the other side of the window waited for her to approach without bothering to look up.

"Sergeant Dinn, please retrieve your armaments from the cabinet below and acknowledge your receipt on the datapad. These are to be stored in your locker when not accompanying you in field, and are prohibited in the barracks unless being carried while on duty. Understood?" said the officer.

"Understood, sir." Solasta answered.

The durasteel door beneath the window slide open to reveal a two-way alcove and Solasta retrieved an assault rifle, power packs, and a munitions box with plasma grenades.

"Sir, I requisitioned an assault cannon but received an assault rifle," Solasta said to the officer who still hadn't raised his head to look at her.

Looking at the screen on his console the officer replied, "You are correct Sergeant. Seems you were given a rifle and not a cannon. You'll have to return to Requisitions to report the error to Stores and Logistics, then return here to exchange your weapon when you have approval."

Solasta opened her mouth slightly as if she was going to say something but decided against it. Instead, she clenched her teeth while a low 'Mrrrr' escaped her throat to express her irritation as she pressed the datapad to accept her weapons. Checking the charge on the power pack she slapped it into the assault rifle, clipped the plasma grenades to her belt, and placed the empty munitions box back in the alcove.

Following the security procedure back to the main entrance, she exited the bunker and headed east through the base toward the gates where the sun had begun to peek over the high walls of the base and she could feel the rays warming her.

* * *

Jorgan was so focused on his monitor that he didn't notice as Solasta lingered in the doorway briefly before she left.

This new Sergeant was a mystery to him and her presence on Ord Mantell didn't make any sense as he reviewed her personnel files and wondered, _how did a cadet who graduated the academy with such promise end up guarding kolto facilities for nearly four years, and what in that posting warranted her a spot on Havoc_?

Aside from her hair being tightly braided into two ponytails, the profile picture of her in the records didn't look any different and there wasn't anything noteworthy to explain a promotion to the Republic's most elite squad.

* * *

Passing through the gates she was immediately struck by the collection of tents and temporary shelters that had been constructed next to the outer walls of the fort by the locals who had been forced from their homes and now lived as refugees. The small campsite was constructed from whatever debris and materials they could find in hopes they would be safe outside the walls of the Republic Base.

Solasta walked east along the speeder lanes towards Talloran Village, avoiding the broken and heaved portions of concrete that the repeated mortar shelling had created, unable to get the sight of the refugees out of her mind. She recalled one of the first lessons her father taught her as a child as she continued walking.

Growing up, her father liked to make a game of re-playing his Republic Navy missions on the family holo-vid player and making Solasta try to figure out the best tactics to overcome an enemy, or achieve an objective. In one of the first of these games, Solasta's little holo squadron of ships approached a planet and her objective was to determine a bombing route to an enemy objective on the planet's surface. In a child's innocence and reasoning, Solasta simply directed her ships to bomb the entire region around the objective.

The entire exercise lasted mere seconds and she could still remember her father's words to her, "even though you successfully stopped the bad people, you also hurt a lot of innocent people who happened to live near the bad people. The Republic also protects those people, and we have a duty to keep them safe."

 _All those people were probably happy living peaceful lives until they became victims of this civil war and it took everything away from them._ This thought stirred emotions from deep inside her that she pushed back down inside her as she tried not to think about what she had lost to the separatist's years earlier.

Pushing on, she passed a group of young Gapillian's grazing in the long grass at a bend in the road, and in the distance, recognized a Republic checkpoint banner at the intersection that led into Talloran. Checking her chrono, she still had fifteen minutes before her meeting but increased her pace in anticipation of her first mission as a member of Havoc.

As Solasta approached the two Republic Soldiers stationed at the checkpoint she scanned the northbound speeder lane that led downhill to Talloran and noticed rows of concrete barriers that faced the village gates, and the four or five Mantellian Security Officers who were hunkered down behind them.

"Good morning, Sergeant," said one of the soldiers cheerfully, but before Solasta could respond the quiet of the morning was shattered by the sound of blaster fire and a bolt ripped through the side of the man's armor, killing him. Solasta and the other soldier dove behind the outermost concrete barrier and returned fire with the Mantellian forces.

"What brings you out here, Sergeant?" asked the surviving soldier.

"I need to get into that village," she replied.

"We'll see what we can do, but this might not be easy sir," the soldier said.

Scanning her options, the cliffs that the village were built beside didn't offer any approach from the left, and too much of the plateau to the right of the village had been destroyed to provide any access from the right, so she was stuck fighting it out with the separatists from the village.

After a short but heated exchange the three separatist hiding at the village gates where taken down and Solasta sprinted down to the entrance. Pressing her back against the wall, she peeked around the corner but couldn't make out any movement in the streets inside the village, so she rolled herself around the corner and carefully tracked around the buildings until she found the alley.

Checking her chrono again, she was five minutes early and jogged between two buildings when she recognized the shape of a body lying face down at the entrance to the alley where she was to meet Agent Bellis. Hoisting her rifle, Solasta cautiously approached the body while scanning all around her to be sure she was safe. Kneeling beside the body, she rolled the man onto his side and confirmed it was Bellis.

Solasta quickly examined the body and determined he must have been shot from behind judging by the lack of any serious trauma to his back, and by the size of the hole in his chest. Looking around for anything else that might provide clues she noticed the chaotic scoring on the walls from undisciplined blaster fire that seemed to be unrelated, unless someone got exceptionally lucky spraying their blaster.

Solasta's holo-com began chirping, breaking her concentration. Pulling it from her belt she answered it to the image of Lieutenant Jorgan.

"Great, Bellis is KIA. That's some fine work, Sergeant! Do you think you could have taken a little longer to get to the rendezvous point?" Jorgan barked at her.

Unable to contain her anger, she instinctively flattened her ears as she said, "It's not my fault Bellis went and got himself killed."

"Yes, I'm sure the fact he was just standing around in an alley waiting for you had nothing to do with it." Jorgan grunted.

They glared at each other for several seconds before Jorgan continued, "There's a chance we can still find out what he learned. If Bellis followed procedures, he should have kept coded recordings of his discovery in his field box. It's probably in his home, but if the sep's figured out he was a spy they may already be searching his home or waiting to ambush whoever comes looking for it. Stay alert and double-time it!

Solasta's voice lowered and she hissed, "Permission to continue my mission, Lieutenant?"

"Just get it done, Jorgan out," and their call disconnected.

Solasta stared at the inactive holo-com in her hand and hissed, "Eta til dol! [This is bullshit!]"

Shouldering her rifle, Solasta snuck back around the buildings until she found Bellis' home and observed it from across the street for nearly twenty minutes before she was confident there weren't any separatist's waiting to ambush her. Crouching low she snuck across to the building and entered.

Scanning the room on the first floor for the agent's field box, noises from upstairs grabbed her attention and she un-holstered her blaster pistol. Quietly she climbed the stairs to the second floor and peeked into the room to find a woman sitting alone at a table.

"Excuse me? What are you doing in my home?" demanded the woman as she stood and began to cross the room.

Solasta holstered her pistol before walking up the remaining steps into the room where she was met by the woman, who's voice dropped to a whisper, "Are you insane? You'll blow my husband's cover storming in here in plain sight! What are you thinking?"

"I need your husband's field box, Ma'am" said Solasta.

"If you're here for that, then Bellis is... he's dead, isn't he? Oh no. No, no, he can't be dead." Bellis' wife buried her face in her hands and quietly sobbed.

"Ma'am, your husband died a hero trying to protect..."

Looking up at Solasta through her tears the woman's voice was low and hoarse as she said, "He risked his life for you people everyday, and you've gone and gotten him killed!"

"Ma'am, I'm truly sorry about your husband- " Solasta began.

"My husband is dead because you turned him into a spy! You want the field box? Fine, it's over there. Take it and get out!"

Solasta picked up the box that was sitting in the corner and peeked inside to confirm that it did contain Bellis' field materials before tucking it under her arm. Reaching the top of the stairs she paused and turned to Bellis' wife, "I'm sorry about your husband, I know how it feels to have the one you loved taken from you."

The woman gasped and yelled, "Stupid girl! What do you know of love? or loss? Get out!"


	6. Chapter 6

Confident that Lieutenant Jorgan would be happy she retrieved the field box, even though the meeting with Bellis didn't go as planned, Solasta held it close to her chest as she hurried back to Fort Garnik. Passing through the gates she ignored everything around her and marched with a single-minded purpose until she reached HQ.

Darting inside the building and making her way to the Ops Room, she found Jorgan and Fuse standing in the small conference room discussing something. Making a path directly to the two men she thrust out her arms and held the box between them, interrupting their conversation.

Startling Fuse, he took a step backwards and avoiding eye contact said, "Oh, Sergeant, you're back. Good job in Talloran, really nice work out there."

Jorgan made a chuff sound at Fuse, a Cathar verbal equivalent of rolling his eyes, and took the box from Solasta's outstretched hands while staring at her intensely, "Maybe next time you could bring me a live Republic agent instead."

Fighting her instincts, Solasta could still feel her ears flatten and narrowed her eyes in an effort to hide her dilating pupils from Jorgan. Her reaction would have been interpreted as a challenge between the two, but luckily he had turned and left the room already. Jorgan walked up the short ramp behind them to his workstation, where stood at the console and began working.

"Lieutenant Bazren has a task for you. He'll brief you while I start decoding Bellis's intel, and- where is your field dress and assault cannon, Rookie?"

Relaxing and returning to her military mindset she said, "Stores gave me the wrong size Cortosis and a rifle. I was going to straighten this out with- "

Jorgan held up his hand to signal Solasta to be silent while using his other hand to work the terminal at this station before speaking into his headset, "This is Lieutenant Jorgan. Why is there a member of Havoc Squad standing in front of me without proper gear? I'm sending Sergeant Dinn to you, fix it!"

Releasing the relay, he said, "Finish your briefing and get yourself sorted out. I don't want to hear any excuses, Rookie," and Solasta could feel her blood begin to boil again.

Shifting his weight from one leg to the other, Fuse continued, "Oh, uh, yes, we found a lead while you were in Talloran. A refugee comes into the fort, right? Not unusual, but this guy says he knows about a separatist bombing that is to happen today. All we got was his name, Mirru- 'cause he was thrown out of the fort before we could get to him."

"Is it normal for someone with information on a bombing to get bounced out of the fort?" Solasta asked.

"Bums come in her all the time trying to trade 'intel' for credits. It's usually bogus, so the grunts at the gates chase them off," said Jorgan as he typed furiously at his console.

Fuse nodded in agreement with Jorgan, "So. anyway, if you can find Mirru at the refugee camp we should look into what he knows."

Solasta nodded and said, "Understood."

Arriving at the armory Solasta approached the counter, but before she could say anything the Requisition Officer apologized for the earlier error and handed her a package containing two new pairs of cortosis bodysuits. At the munitions stores the officer sitting in the outer office said, "Apologies Sergeant, we don't have a cannon for you."

Solasta's eyebrows raised slightly, "Sir?"

"One has been requested from the mainland base and is being transferred immediately. We will notify you when it arrives," and sighing heavily the officer said, "and, I will notify Lieutenant Jorgan."

"Thank-you, sir," and Solasta left quickly, hiding her amusement at the thought of how that conversation would play out

Crossing the fort on her way to the refugee camp she stopped at Havoc's quarters and briefly considered changing into one of the new pairs of cortosis bodysuits and equipping her combat armor, but decided to find Mirru to see if his intel sounded legitimate first, so she stowed the package in her locker and went to find Mirru.

At the camp outside the gates she found herself unwelcome among the refugee's. It seemed nobody was interested in talking with a Republic soldier or were more than happy to share their opinion of the Republic's interference on Ord Mantell. Walking through the rows of tents she was becoming tired of the snide comments that were made as she passed by and had almost given up hope that she would find Mirru when she overheard someone calling out his name. Looking around anxiously to see who would respond Solasta saw a thin Twi'lek, with fresh bruises and welts surfacing on his red skin, raise his hand to wave at someone.

Solasta waited for Mirru to finish his conversation with the woman who had called out to him before she approached, but before she could say anything Mirru's eyes widened and the held both hands up in front of him motioning her to stop, "What, you people didn't have enough fun beating me already, you gotta come find me here?"

"I'm sorry for what happened earlier, you have every right to be mad, but we really need your help."

Crossing his arms the wincing in pain he said, "So now you want the information? It's going to cost you."

"Thousands of lives could be at risk, you've got to help- please."

Unmoved by Solasta, Mirru just stared at her expressionlessly until she reached into her pocket and pulled out a credit stick and handed it to him. "This is all I have, but if your information proves true, I'm sure my superiors will you give a reward."

Pocketing the credit stick, Mirru motioned for her to follow, and they walked to the edge of the camp until they were outside the ring of tents. Pointing to the north-west Mirru said, "When I was scavenging along the speeder lanes earlier I saw some separatists hiding some bombs on the roadside, and they were talking about some troop convoy that was supposed to be passing by."

"Thanks," said Solasta, "keep your eyes open and let us know if you learn anything else."

Mirru rolled his eyes, "Oh yeah. Sure. I'll stay in touch."

Watching Mirru walk between the tents and disappear in the crowd, Solasta's holo-com began to chime and gently vibrate. Pulling it off her belt she pressed the receive button and was presented with the image of Lieutenant Jorgan, "All right Rookie, I've confirmed there is a convoy of troops expected to pass the location Mirru pointed out, anytime now. This bomb situation sounds like the real deal, so double-time it, soldier!"

Scanning the north-west, Solasta remembered how the rock formations created a natural valley that the roadway traveled through, but beyond that laid an open field which would be the perfect spot to hide bombs next to the road. Unfortunately, the valley would also give away her approach, so flanking them from the top of the ridges would be a better strategy she decided.

Following the fort's outer wall until it met the cliffs that rose and provided a natural barrier to the west, Solasta climbed rock face to the top, and looking down over the walls into the fort she was astounded at how much activity now took place. Before the civil war had escalated the fort had served as a sleepy little military outpost and med station for the students who flooded the beaches on the island during the school break in the dry seasons.

Moving from the cliff edge to find some cover in the wild brush she kept low to the ground and moved around the cliff tops until she was positioned safely past the valley and behind a group of three separatists who were hiding in one of the shallow bomb craters that marred the area. Peeking over the edge she discovered that she was on an overhang and climbing down was no longer an option. She'd have to jump.

Tightening the strap of her rifle to be sure it would stay firmly on her shoulder she drew her pistol and dropped off the edge, onto the backs of two of the separatists and was satisfied to hear the sharp crack of bones and pained groans of the men as they broke her fall. Grabbing the third separatist by the collar of his jacket she pushed him against the side of the crater with the barrel of her pistol pressed to his chest, and baring a full set of sharp clenched teeth growled, "Where are the bombs? Now!"

The separatist pointed shakily at one location on the near side of the road, and two locations on the other side.

"Thanks," and Solasta loosed a single bolt.

Keeping low to the ground, she scanned the landscape and strained all of her senses for any signs of separatists as she approached the first location the man had pointed to. Beneath some loose branches and dead-fall, she found several sticks of detonite packed in a hole. Pulling out the detonator, she smashed it against a nearby rock before collecting the detonite and crossing the road to repeat the process.

As she finished the third bomb the small convoy of personnel carriers passed her and continued into the valley pass. As the last carrier approached she from ran from her hiding spot to follow alongside it, using it as cover until they had cleared the other side before running back to the fort.

Solasta returned to the Ops room to find Lieutenant Jorgan still working at his console and Colonel Tavus intently reading something from a screen at one of the communication stations at the far side of the room. Passing Jorgan as she made her way to the Colonel, he looked up at her briefly and said, "You stopped the ambush, Rookie. Not too shabby," before returning to his work.

When she reached Tavus, he sprang to his feet and stood in front of the terminal while fumbling with the console to close his session while saying, "Sergeant, superb work on that ambush situation. Adaptability like that is what Havoc Squad is all about."

"Unfortunately, we're still no closer to finding the ZR-57, sir."

Tavus motioned at Jorgan to join them while saying, "Not for long. I have some good news, Lieutenant Jorgan finished decoding Bellis's intel and he thinks we have a breakthrough."

"Did Bellis locate it?" asked Solasta as Jorgan had joined them.

"He did indeed, Rookie. Bellis discovered that the separatists are hiding the ZR-57 at a supply outpost on Mannett Point, a small island just off the coast."

Handing Solasta a datapad, Tavus said, "Your mission overview is here, but we'll go over everything in detail tomorrow after Wraith completes some reconnaissance overnight. You will follow in behind her once we know what we're dealing with, Sergeant. Dismissed."

Solasta sat at one of the communication stations and read over the intel in her briefing. She had never visited the supply outpost at Mannett Point, but she knew it had been a heavily guarded supply depot, and the waters around it were extremely treacherous. In her younger seasons a boyfriend and his friends would take their waveboards and challenge the rough waters off the Point, but he had always forbidden her from joining them saying it was too dangerous.

When she had finished reviewing the intel, she looked at her chrono and was surprised to see that she had missed dinner and was starving from not having eaten since breakfast. Quickly patting the pockets on her pants, she felt the soft and crushed packages of ration bars she stuffed in there that morning and decided to shower and eat those before turning in early.

Returning to the barracks she found only Wraith there, already asleep in preparation for her night op, so Solasta quietly collected her hygiene kit and headed to the refresher to shower. When she returned she did her best to not disturb the sleeping woman and quietly pulled the package of cortosis suits from her locker to try one on and check that it fit properly. To her surprise, pressed between the two suits was a datapad that she swore to herself hadn't been there when she put the package in the locker.

Dropping the datapad on her bunk she wiggled into one of the cortosis suits to confirm she had received the right items the second time before changing into her night clothes. Sitting cross-legged on her bunk, she munched on a ration bar while examining the datapad and wondered where it had come from when it dawned on her to try the security steps that the agent on the transport had showed her.

Powering on the device she unlocked it using the method she had practiced on the flight and a single message blinked at her on the screen.

 _Status Update._

Solasta stared at this for several minutes trying to think of what to send, and finally decided to make her first message brief and to the point. Entering her reply, she typed, " _Thank-you. Nothing unusual to report yet. Havoc seem friendly although elusive. Asset might be recovered tomorrow."_

Shutting off her datapad and securing it in her locker, she dimmed the lights at her bunk and stretched out to get an early night's rest.


	7. Chapter 7

Arriving at Ops Center, Solasta walked into a contentious discussion between Lieutenant Jorgan and Commander Tavus, or at least she thought it was since Lieutenant Jorgan's disposition seemed to make every conversation feel combative.

"Judging by the increase in the number of guards and complex security systems, from Wraith's intel, this has to be where the separatists are hiding the bomb" said Tavus.

 _Jorgan's steely blue-eye stare could bore holes through Durasteel,_ thought Solasta as she watched him answer, "Honestly, with security like this, Mannett Point looks more like an Imperial base. I think the Sep's are getting some help, Commander."

Dismissing Aric with a wave of his hand, Tavus said, "Help from the Imperials? Seems unlikely, Lieutenant. The SIS would have discovered any Imperial involvement long before now."

"Sir, the Sep's do seem to be very well equipped," Solasta added, eager to include herself in their conversation.

Tavus looked at Solasta, then back at Jorgan, before sighing. "We'll look into any possible Imperial connections once we've completed the mission at hand."

Turning to face Solasta, Tavus' changed back to his terse military tone, "Sergeant, you and Wraith will breach the secured area. Leave immediately and rendezvous with her. Once inside, she'll give you further instructions. Understood?"

'Yes sir," and Solasta saluted Tavus, who had already turned and started walking towards the console where he had his caffa and several data pads strewn about it.

Solasta quickly glanced at Jorgan, and through his usual intense stare he said, "The combat armor looks good on you, Rookie. Like you actually belong in Havoc now."

Determined to not let Jorgan see her smile, she turned hard on her heel and started making her way out the door, grinning the entire way.

Passing beneath the high-powered overhead lighting she studied her shadow growing and shrinking beneath her as she passed through the base, and wondered where the rest of Havoc Squad was. Although Solasta had seen Wraith sleeping in her bed the night before, she knew that the other woman would have already left to infiltrate Mannett Point ahead of her, but she couldn't remember being disturbed from her sleep at all by the other squad members coming or going the night before. She wasn't even sure that the rest of Havoc had even spent the night in their quarters.

Continuing through the base, only the sounds of low voices, personnel walkers, and shuttles in the distance broke the quiet of the early morning, and for a brief moment she felt as though she was back on the Dry Season school break. Remembering those lazy days of waking before dawn and catching the morning shuttle to Avilatan with her friends to ride their Waveboards-when this civil war was nothing more than random skirmishes between the separatists and the Mantellian Security forces.

The reality of where she was came crashing back as she passed through the gates to the sounds of the refugee camp. The cries of a small child in a tent somewhere nearby and the soft cooing of a mother trying desperately to soothe the child before they woke their neighbours. The violent coughing of someone who sounded ill. Many refugees groaning in the dark, whether its was from the pain of an injury or the pain of despair. Solasta's heart went out to those in the tents, and as much as she wished she could do more for them, she had a mission to complete.

Walking through the dark, unaided by a torch, she was able to clearly see the countryside in shades of grey, blue, and purples until she approached the intersection to Talloran Village and the lights from the lamps at the outpost forced her to blink a few times to adjust her eyes. Walking to the checkpoint that she had been at less than a day earlier, she noticed an armored walker had arrived and was parked a short distance away with almost a dozen Republic and Mantellian Soldiers standing around it. Stepping to the checkpoint and presenting herself, a fresh faced private scanned her ID while she peered down the lane into the village and could see countless separatist bodies strewn about.

"You're clear to continue through, Sergeant," began the private, and noticing her attention on the dead separatists a short distance away, he said, "Boy, did you miss a great raid. It was like blasting womp rats in a barrel."

Solasta said nothing and simply nodded to the private before continuing on her way to Mannett Point.

Less than half an hour's walk down the speeder lane she arrived at the bridge connecting Avilatan Island to the much smaller island that the Point was built on, and found that it had been destroyed. Sliding down the embankment through the tall grass and brown stalked weeds to the water's edge she could see sandbars poking out of the water at low tide.

Slipping quietly into the water she waded between sandbars and quietly prayed to herself that the Sep's hadn't mined the shallow black pools of water between the two islands until she arrived safely at the far side of the narrow strait. Moving stealthily up the far bank, she kept to the darkest shadows to take advantage of the cover of the night, which would shortly yield itself to the morning sunrise. Until then, the advantage was hers.

Slipping past the many guards that were posted, even at this early hour, she got into the main compound and was immediately greeted by the sound of Jorgan over her comm-relay, "There should be a small building approximately 40 meters to the north-east of those gates you just passed. Inside you'll find Wraith waiting with your next set of instructions. Understood?"

Whispering into her comm-relay she said, "Understood, sir."

Stealthily moving between the stacks of crates, vehicles, and heavy artillery droids that the Sep's seemed to have somehow acquired, Solasta slipped into the building that Jorgan had identified and found Wraith inside. Working alone by the light of the console screens in the dark building, Wraith had already drawn her blaster pistol at the sound of Solasta's approach.

Solasta whispered, "It's me. Sergeant Dinn."

Wraith narrowed her eyes and strained through the dark until she was able to recognize Solasta, and waiving her over said, "Sergeant, no time to waste. The bomb is behind a force field, and we're going to breach it."

"Understood sir, just tell me what to do."

Wraith displayed a layout of the facility and pointed to a large building to the far east of their position where she drilled down on the floor schematics for Solasta. "I'll disable the shields from here and you pass through and take out the generator. Once that's down, I'll rejoin you."

"Understood, sir."

"Good, then go."

Retracing her steps, Solasta slipped out of the building and decided that following the inner walls would allow her to keep herself hidden in the shadows until she had navigated to the other end of the facility. Cautiously she advanced and passed several more patrolling artillery droids. This time she had an opportunity to examine them while she watched as they passed her on their patrol routes, and was very certain they looked vaguely like the same models the Imps used, but several generations old.

Slipping inside the large building that Wraith had identified, Solasta found herself looking at the back of a Separatist Trooper a few meters away, who was slouched against the wall at the shoulder and appeared to be relaxed in a light sleep. Drawing her pistol, she gingerly stepped across the grated metal floor plates until she was directly behind the Trooper, and reaching up with her right hand she carefully cupped her hand over his mouth as she pressed the muzzle of her blaster into his back and squeezed the trigger.

The Trooper stiffened with a start and Solasta could feel his instinctual reflex to open his mouth and scream out in pain, only to have his last sounds muffled against her hand before he crumpled.

Solasta took the dead Trooper's ID card and walked to the secured elevator to swipe it in the card reader. Frowning at the sound of her combat boots against the grated metal floor, she decided to remove them before she drew her blaster rifle and waited for the elevator to arrive, ready for any separatists who may be inside. When the elevator chimed and the doors slid open, she was relieved to find it was empty before stepping inside and pushing the button for the lower level, praying there weren't any separatists waiting at the bottom.

When the elevator jerked slightly and stopped moving, Solasta drew her blaster rifle and kneeled on one knee, waiting for the telltale chime for the elevator to announce its arrival. Griping the rifle and asserting the slightest of pressure on the trigger, she held her breath and waited for the doors to open to a deserted hallway.

Blowing her breath between lips as she shouldered her rifle and drew her pistol, she stood and stepped out of the elevator and padded stealthily down the hallway and into what appeared to be a large warehouse. Hiding behind the stacks of shipping containers, she moved to the far side of the room and into hallway that Wraith had shown her on the schematics to where the generator was located.

Passing through the hallway silently, she stepped into the room at the end she found that she had stepped into an Med Bay, and not the force field generator room that she had expected.

A separatist who had been sitting on an exam bed noticed her and jumped to his feet, but doubled over in pain before he could draw his pistol. Holding his gut with one hand, he raised his other arm and held out his hand open palmed, saying, "Hold your fire! We surrender! We surrender!"

Flattening her ears and hissing low, Solasta raised her blaster pistol and pointed it at the Sep before holding a finger to her lips to signal him to be quiet so he didn't wake the other two separatists who were lying on nearby exam beds. Whispering, the soldier said, "We won't interfere or try to stop you-I swear it! Please, just let us live."

"What's your name?" asked Solasta.

"Uh, it's Jex."

"Sorry Jex," and Solasta slapped him hard across the temple with the butt of her pistol, and catching the man before he fell to the floor, she dragged him to a medical bed and laid him on it.

Looking around the room Solasta saw a small door to her right, between a kolto tank and a shipping skid filled with crates. Approaching the door and standing to the side, she pressed the keypad and waited for it to slide open before peeking around the corner to find a hallway that was broken by an intersection and guarded by two Separatist Soldiers. When it was obvious that the Sep's hadn't heard the door open from where they stood, Solasta walked back to Jex and sat him upright before wrapping one of his arms over her shoulder and grabbing him by the belt, hoisted the unconscious man to his feet and walked him to the open door and pushed him through, listening for the dull thud of his body hitting the ground face first.

 _If that kid thought he felt bad before, he's going to feel so much worse when he wakes up,_ she thought.

"Looks like someone went for a walk. Help me get him back on the medical bed," said one of the Separatist Soldiers.

Solasta squatted inside the doorway with her pistol ready and waited for the Sep's. Hearing their heavy footsteps on the metal grating, she slowed her breathing with every footstep that came closer, until the scent of their sweat and stale breath drifted through the doorway. Hearing the strained groans of the men lifting Jex's dead-weight, she prepared herself and spun around into the doorway to find the Sep's propping up Jex from both sides. Firing her first bolt into chest of the Sep on the left, the Sep on the right had let go of Jex and had reached for his pistol, but was too slow and all three Sep's slumped to the floor.

Ducking through the door into the hallway, Solasta looked back into the Med-Bay to see if the two Sep's who were on the examination tables had woken from the sounds of the blaster fire. When neither moved she guessed they were either sedated, or heavy sleepers. In either case, it was very lucky for her.

Passing the bodies, she continued along the hallway and checked that the intersection was clear before moving to the end of the hallway and down a short ramp to find her path ended at a blind corner that turned right. Darting her head around the corner quickly to observe who, or what, was there, she could see the hall continued a few meters then opened to a room that had four generators inside. Peeking around the corner a second time, she counted four separatists inside who were all busy working at different consoles inside the room.

Rolling from behind the corner, Solasta raced down the hallway at full speed, hardly making a sound as her padded feet carried her to the doorway where she burst through and sprayed the room with bolts from the blaster rifle. When the Sep's were dead she walked up the ramp to the small platform that the generator controls sat on, fired several bolts into the panels, and listened for the hum of generators to die as the consoles erupted in sparks and flames.

Retracing her steps as she exited, the two Sep's in the hallway were still lying where they fell, so she returned to the intersection and cautiously looked to the left; this path ended with doors that had signs over them marking the refreshers, and the path to her right led to an open doorway, beyond which she could see a Separatist Officer moving around inside the room.

Solasta checked the charge on her blaster pistol quickly before she pressed her body close to the wall and snuck into what appeared to be a storeroom lined with shelves. Standing behind the officer with her pistol trained on the Sep, she waited until he turned around and noticed her.

"What the-a Republic soldier? How you get in here?" he asked as his eyes bulged.

Before Solasta could speak she heard quiet footsteps approaching from the hallway behind her and took a few side-steps to position herself a little more favorably to watch both the Sep Officer and the doorway. When she picked up Wraith's scent before she saw the woman, she turned her full attention back to the Sep.

"The ZR-57! Where is it! Tell me! Now!" Solasta demanded, flattening her ears and clenching her teeth.

"I'm not telling you anything, Republic scum!"

Entering the room, Wraith walked over to join Solasta and dropped a pair of combat boots beside her, and said, "I think you misplaced these, Sergeant," before she walked along the rows of shelves searching for the bomb.

"Hmm, it's not here," said Wraith, and she drew her blaster pistol and also pointed it at the Sep.

Holding his hands up in front of them, the Separatist Officer's his voice began to waver, "Wait. Wait! The bomb? My Commander moved it. They came in and moved it to a personnel carrier a few days ago."

"Where did it go?" demanded Solasta.

"I don't know. I don't know where it went after that. Honest!"

"Why all the security if the bomb's gone?" Wraith asked.

Still holding his hands up he slowly thumbed in the direction of a hallway at the other side of the room, saying, "The Commanders from the other Separatist Cells on Avilatan are here for a conference to relocate troops and resources between-"

Solasta stiffened at the sound of Wraith's blaster firing a bolt into the officer's chest, leaving charred hole in his uniform as he fell to the ground.

"Sergeant, eliminate those Commanders and retrieve their data."

"I'll take care of them, sir."

Wraith turned and left, while Solasta slipped her combat boots back on before carefully sneaking down the hallway the Separatist Officer had pointed to.

Before Solasta could reach the door at the end of the hallway, Lieutenant Jorgan's voice came over the comm-relay, "These Commanders are priority-one targets, Sergeant. Recovering their data on cell locations, manpower, and possibly the bomb's movements isn't something we can pass up."

"Understood, sir," whispered Solasta.

Drawing her pistol, she shook her head and huffed at the low charge on the energy pack before slipping it back into it's holster and readying her blaster rifle.

Pushing the keypad on the wall, she stepped through the doorway when it slid open, and into the room.

With a quick pump action on the rifle she fired a sticky grenade at the first Commanders she saw, who immediately panicked and flailed around trying to pull off the small incendiary device that that been instantly adhered to his chest. The sound of this startled the two other officers in the room who were busy working at their data consoles on opposite sides of the room, and the Commander who was to her left leapt to his feet. Solasta began firing a stream of plasma bolts into him as she took a few steps forward before feeling a plasma bolt from her right glance across the armor on her shoulder and hit the wall behind her.

Dropping down to a crouching position immediately, Solasta finished counting in her head, _3... 2... 1._

The small explosion from the sticky grenade was more than sufficient to instantly eliminate the first Commander, but also create enough concussive force that the the last Commander stood up and stumbled around in a daze, allowing Solasta to finish him without any further challenge.

Driving a spike into each of the terminals, Solasta copied over as much data as she could before firing her blaster rifle on each of the consoles and making her escape back to Fort Garnik


	8. Chapter 8

Tucking the data spikes into her pack from the first two consoles Solasta growled at the third when she realized the Separatist Commander that had been working there managed to initiate a data wipe on the terminal and there was very little left for her to repair, and no time to restore the data.

 _This will have to do,_ she thought as she set the timers on her plasma grenades and placed them on the consoles.

Sneaking back through the hallways she passed the bodies of the soldiers who still laid where they fell in the hallway. Solasta was a little surprised they hadn't been discovered yet, but knew that would all change shortly.

Reaching the large storeroom, she hid in the same spot behind the row of shipping containers and waited for the first grenade to detonate. Within minutes a low rumble could be heard off in the distance causing the separatists to stop working and give pause while they tried to discern what it was they heard. A few seconds later the rest of the grenades removed any doubt and the separatists all rushed past her hiding spot, down the hallway towards the direction of the explosions.

Solasta waited until the sounds of boots on durasteel faded in the distance, and there weren't any fresh boots coming from the direction of the elevator, before she drew her blaster pistol and dashed towards the lift.

Pressing the button to summon the elevator, she anxiously checked the hallway behind her for any separatists until the door chimed to announce its arrival, and taking a knee she nervously fingered at the blaster trigger. Waiting for what felt like an eternity for the doors to open, she blew out a breath of relief to find it was empty before running inside and slapping the button labeled 'Main Level' repeatedly until the doors closed.

As the elevator carried Solasta up, she holstered her pistol and readied her blaster rifle knowing that an alarm would be sounding at any moment and the separatists would come in force once that happened.

The elevator jerked to a stop and the doors opened to present Solasta with two separatist soldiers, a stout heavy looking man looking over the shoulder of a young woman who was kneeling next to the body of the Trooper that Solasta encountered just inside the main doors.

At the sound of the elevator's arrival, both turned to watch the doors open and see the tall cathar who stood with a rifle aimed at them. Solasta fired her rifle before either had a chance to draw their pistols.

Solasta ran past their bodies and through the main doors as the alarm sounded, narrowly beating the lock-down protocol that would have sealed her inside.

Outside the doors and ducking behind a stack of shipping containers that a lifter droid had stacked next to the building, she barely had time for her eyes to adjust to early morning light before the sirens on the base began to sound and it would only be minutes before the base security would all converge on the building.

The sun hadn't risen yet but the pink in the horizon had already begun to chase the grey sky and Solasta's natural advantage, the ability to see in complete darkness, was now lost.

Solasta snuck back along the inner walls and kept to the back of the buildings for cover as she progressed slowly back to the main gates and did her best to progress forward cautiously. Once the separatists realized that the lock-down didn't capture their infiltrator they would begin a sweep of the grounds and she'd prefer not to still be there when that happened, but if she engaged in a blaster fight in the open, the separatists would immediately know where to look for her.

Nearing the main gate, she hid behind the building that Wraith had met her in hours earlier and peeked her head around the corner to see only one Separatist Soldier guarding the entrance, beyond him was a small balcony or the set of stairs that led to waters edge that she needed to escape through. She waited for the soldier to patrol past the gate and turn his back to walk back in the other direction before she seized the opportunity to draw her blaster pistol and run for the balcony.

Pumping her legs as hard as she could, she closed the roughly forty meter gap between them to less then five meters before the soldier heard her approach and spun around, but it was too late.

Solasta ran headlong into the soldier and in the process of knocking him over backwards, drove the muzzle of her blaster into the man's abdomen and pulled her trigger. The shot into his armor at close range was muffled well enough, however it was his brief scream that drew attention from the other separatists and Solasta could hear the faint sound of someone running towards the fallen man as she slipped over the balcony railing, dropping to the rocks below.

Sliding a short distance down and into the tidal waters that had returned, she held her breath and swam underwater towards the other bank until she thought her lungs would burst.

* * *

The walk back to Fort Garnik gave Solasta enough time to drain the water from her combat armor and only her cortosis bodysuit was uncomfortably damp by time she reached Headquarters.

Inside the Ops Room she was immediately met by Needles, "Sergeant, you've returned. Masterful work eliminating the Separatist Commanders. The beast has been beheaded, as it were," in his whiny nasal voice.

Solasta hadn't noticed the grey-black skin that surrounded the ocular implant in Needles' right eye, but now it was taking all her resolve not to stare at it, and it seemed like everything about this man made her cackles stand on end.

"Thank-you, sir." she said, trying not to make eye contact with him, as Lieutenant Jorgan joined them.

Solasta handing the data spikes to Jorgan, and he said, "I'll get that data out to the rest of Havoc right away. As for you, Lieutenant Dorant here has a special Op for you," and glanced in the direction of Needles.

"Thank-you, Lieutenant Jorgan," and flashing an unsettling smile Needles said, "Earlier today a man named Zak came to the fort from Oradam Village seeking medical attention for what he believed was acute radiation poisoning. The truth is, his body practically tearing itself apart from within- catastrophic organ failures."

A sick maniacal smile grew across his face before he added, "it was quite magnificent to behold."

Solasta scowled in disgust, but he was too busy mentally reliving the experience to notice.

"I... get the picture, Needles. Is this unsual?" she asked

"As a day labourer, Zak performs pointless, menial tasks that would never expose him to radiation."

Jorgan added, "Fuse told us that the ZR-57 could leak significant amounts of radiation if handled improperly."

Needles nodded his agreement, "We think Zak came into contact with the ZR-57 and I want the details, even if you must pry them from his dying husk of a mind."

"Ok sir, what do I need to do?" Solasta asked.

"The medics who first treated him weren't equipped to cure his condition- most of their supplies had been stolen by the sep's, but you could retrieve the necessary components to cure Zak's condition. Given his current medications only offer the promise of a lifetime of excruciating pain, the potential for a full recovery should be an excellent motivator for gaining his cooperation."

In his usual gruff tone, Jorgan addressed Solasta, "We know exactly where those medical supplies are- we just haven't had the resources to deal with them. Here are the coordinates and what supplies to retrieve. Any questions?"

"Sir, where is Zak once I have the med's?"

"Once you have everything, confront Zak about the ZR-57, at these coordinates- his home. Grab some lunch quickly, then step to it, Sergeant. Nothing fancy, just get the supplies, the intel from Zak, then get back here. Dismissed."

Passing through the mess hall Solasta had been awake long enough now that the servings of breakfast didn't interest her, so she grabbed a handful of sealed ration bars and stuffed them in her pack. While she was doing this, she overheard two Mantellian Security officers discussing that a number of speeder routes had been reopened now that the roads appeared to be safe, and was relieved when they mentioned Oradam Village among them.

Returning to Havoc's quarters to quickly update General Garza on her morning's progress, it struck her that their quarters looked exactly the same as how she left it earlier that morning. To most people the very disciplined appearance of the military barracks would have looked the same, but to her the very minute telltale signs that her squad would have been through just weren't present.

 _If they aren't staying here, then where are they?_ she wondered as she keyed the pad on her locker.

Retrieving her data pad, she sat on her bunk and unlocked it the secured communications terminal to a waiting message that blinked at her- "Status Update."

Opening the message, it simply said, _Increased encrypted communications from Col. Tavus to unknown recipient. Update ASAP._

Solasta wrote a quick response and hit send, " _Infiltrated separatist base at Mannett Point; ZR-57 was there but had been moved days earlier. Being sent on an errand to recover medical supplies to bargain with a local who has radiation poisoning - possibly from contact with the bomb. Havoc behaviour still appears normal; no opportunity to observe Tavus. Will report again ASAP_.

Shutting down the data pad, Solasta locked it away in her locker and headed out the door for the speeder pads.

* * *

Stepping off the speeder at Oradam and making her way down the steps of the elevated pad, Solasta walked through the small village and past the row of buildings, noting the addresses until she found Zak's home and thought, _I'll be coming back here soon enough_.

The village didn't look much different from how she remembered it, aside from the few buildings that had superficial damage from the separatist shelling, it otherwise looked relatively untouched by the civil war compared to the other locations she had visited. Life for the Mantellians here didn't look like it had changed much as she walked through the village feeling somewhat at home.

Passing through to the west gates of the village she only had to walk a short distance until the speeder path narrowed to a wide ledge and the smooth road surface became loose stone and gravel, before transitioning into the sand that covered the entire western beaches. This hadn't changed either and the volcanic rock-face to her left was too steep to climb so she wouldn't be able to bypass the separatist sentries her keen vision could see hiding in the distance

Although she hated to give up the higher ground she decided to slide down and walk along the beach, against the rock below the ledge, hoping she wouldn't be seen by the sentries above. Moving forward carefully until the volcanic rocks and vegetation became sparse and she was losing her cover, she spied the separatist camp in a clearing ahead of her.

 _Well, Lieutenant Jorgan said nothing fancy, just get in and get out_ , she thought to herself as she readied her blaster rifle and ran full speed, firing bolts and sticky grenades at the separatists in the camp until they were incapacitated or dead. The gun fire and explosions this created alerted the sentries and she could hear their yelling in the distance as she grabbed the medical supplies and threw them in her pack.

Running ran back in the direction she had come from with her blaster rifle ready, she discovered the surprise raid on the camp was so effective that she was well on her way back up the rock-face to the speeder path before the separatists had figured out what had happened and started rushing wildly up the beach towards her.

When Solasta pulled herself onto the ledge, she turned and threw the rest of her plasma grenades at the separatists before turning and running back to Oradam.

* * *

Solasta walked briskly through the village and checked over her shoulder occasionally to be sure the separatists hadn't followed her. When she returned to the row of apartments she had passed earlier and approached Zak's unit, she pressed the doorbell button on the keypad and waited.

Straining her ears, she couldn't hear anyone moving around inside and pressed the keypad again and could detect the faint sound the chimes inside.

 _I hope I'm not too late,_ she thought as she gently pushed on the door and found it slide open with little effort. _Hmm... not locked,_ and she drew her pistol before stepping inside.

As she crept through the entrance into the apartment's large and dimly lit common room she recognized the sounds of the HoloNet news quietly playing nearby. Walking past the kitchen and refresher, she carefully climbed the small flight of stairs and walked down the hallway into the single bedroom at the rear of the dwelling.

Lying on the bed was a frail looking Twi'lek woman who was being tended to by a human male, and in the corner a small holo-player quietly presented the daily HoloNet news report.

The Twi'lek's red skin looked crimson and blistered in several spots from burns and her eyes looked sunken into her pale rouge complexion. Looking at Solasta, a weak expression of fear clouded her face as she weakly tried to raise her hand to point in Solasta's direction.

The man who had been sitting on the bed and pressing a cold cloth to the Twi'lek woman's forehead turned to see what had grabbed her attention. Seeing Solasta with her blaster pistol drawn he slowly stood, making sure his hands were in front of him where Solasta could see them. His face and hands purple and blistered from radiation burns as well.

Zak wrung his hands and cleared his throat before saying, "You're a soldier from the Fort right? Please help us. We're really sick- I think Jaller, my wife, is dying."

Between pained moans, Jaller said, "I'll be f-fine Zak, just get rid of that Republic Soldier." before coughing violently.

Zak's eyes became glassy as he struggled to contain his emotion, and unable to look at his wife he said, "No, Jaller! Please-the medics I spoke to earlier at the fort said there was a way to help us.

Looking Solasta in the eyes, his tone turned to a plea, "Please... help us."

"How did you get so sick?" Solasta asked.

"I told the medics at the fort earlier, we don't know how it happened."

Solasta furrowed her brow, stared at Zak, and bluntly said, "You have radiation poisoning. You've been in contact with the stolen Republic bomb, haven't you."

Zak's eye widened and he looked to his wife, questioning, "Jaller?"

"Quiet, Zak. We don't know anything about... ungh... anything."

Zak's face flushed and raising his voice he said, "They... they're the reason we're sick, aren't they? You're going to let yourself die because of them?"

"Hush Zak, you'll ruin everything. The movement-"

"The movement be damned! They don't care about us-they just care about their weapons and secrets."

Solasta's tone softened and she asked, "The movement got you into this mess- why would you protect them?"

Kneeling beside the bed, Zak took his wife's hand and quietly said, "Jaller, they aren't worth dying for. I love you."

"If you love me, you won't betray what I stand for. Please, just let me go."

"I'm sorry, Jaller, but I refuse to let you die for this."

Turning his attention to Solasta he said, "There was this large crate we helped move up to the stronghold-that's the separatists' main base on the island. I swear we didn't know what was inside, but we started to get sick shortly afterwards. Now please, help my wife!"

Solasta holstered her blaster, opened her pack, and handing Zak the small medical boxes she said, "Here, these injectors will heal you. There is enough for both of you- use one injector, twice a day, until they're all gone. Even if you're feeling better, keeping using the injectors until they are all gone- got it?"

"Yes. Thank-you," and sitting on the bed next to Jaller, Zak took an injector and pressed it against her arm, and they could hear the soft hiss as it delivered it's first dosage of medicine.

"Here love, this will make you feel better."

Solasta let herself out and once in street, her holo-com vibrated. Pulling it out and activating it, she was presented with the image of Lieutenant Jorgan.

"Come on in, Sergeant. I copied everything- sounds like we're gonna hit separatists where they live. Good work."

"Thank you, sir."

I hope you're ready for this. The mountain stronghold is the separatists' most fortified position on the entire island- getting in there won't be easy.

The call has gone out and Havoc is assembling immediately, so get back here on the double."

"Yes sir."


	9. Chapter 9

Solasta burst through the doorway into the Ops Room and walked directly to Jorgan who was standing with an Ensign at one of the data consoles that lined the back wall of the room. "Welcome back, Sergeant. Grab yourself a seat. You're gonna observe the op from here with me."

Canting her head slightly to the left and feeling he ears twitch Solasta asked, "Observing which op? Where is Commander Tavus and the rest of Havoc?"

"Havoc Squad is about to infiltrate the separatists' stronghold to retrieve the ZR-57 as we speak, and Commander Tavus was very clear- you're to stay here and observe Havoc on this mission."

Solasta's eyes widened, "Sir?"

"I'm a little surprised by his decision. I honestly thought you beginning to prove yourself, but I guess Tavus isn't convinced you're ready for the big time."

"Sir, I found that bomb- I should be a part of the team that retrieves it!" she exclaimed.

Unmoved by Solasta's plea, Jorgan began saying, "Maybe next time, Sergeant. I'm sure-", but he was cut off by the alarms that began emanating from the console next to them and he snapped his gaze to the technician who had begun keying the terminal furiously.

Turning his head to look over his at Solasta and Jorgan, the technician said, "Lieutenant Jorgan, we've got a situation here."

"Talk to me Ensign, what's going on?"

"Looks like we've lost contact with Havoc Squad, sir. Comms, video, locators, everything- it's like they just disappeared."

Solasta watched as Jorgan's ear's flattened, his brow furrowed, and the fine muscles in his face twitched as he barked, "Unacceptable, soldier! You get back to that terminal, and you get me Havoc's status, now!"

"Yes, sir!" said the young man and he returned to the terminal.

Solasta spoke up, "Send me in! Havoc may need me, sir."

Jorgan raised his eyebrows and looked at her before thumbing his chin, "I'd be breaking Tavus' orders, but if it comes to that… "

Spinning around to address Jorgan again, the Ensign said, "Still nothing from Havoc Squad, sir. I think we may have lost them."

The intensity on Jorgan's face hadn't eased up as he looked at the Ensign, then at Solasta, "Listen up. This mission will not fail on my watch- the separatists are not keeping that bomb. All right Sergeant Dinn, you're going in there. We were hoping to retrieve that bomb intact, but we're way south of that now. So, here's the new plan: We have the deactivation codes for the ZR-57, so you will disarm the bomb- leaving the sep's with nothing but a big radioactive paperweight."

Solasta's stance stiffened, "Yes, sir!"

The ensign, who had returned to working at his terminal, retrieved a spike from one of the data ports and handed it to Solasta saying, "You'll have to slice this into sep's comm system to deliver the code to the bomb."

Solasta nodded to the ensign before returning her attention to Jorgan.

"I don't need to tell what happens if you fail, Sergeant. Hopefully Havoc's cleared a path through their security. Dismissed, and good luck."

Solasta saluted Jorgan and turned to leave but stopped to answer her holo-com, and the image of the armory officer appeared, "Sergeant, your cannon has finally arrived from the mainland. Come and collect it anytime."

Before she could answer Jorgan grabbed the device from her hand and said to the officer, "You will get someone to bring that to HQ on the double- fully charged and with a case of plasma grenades for the Sergeant. Understood?"

Wide-eye and surprised, the officer instinctively replied, "Yes, sir!"

Stepping outside headquarters Solasta could see a young private struggling to run across the base carrying a standard issue plasma cannon, a small crate of grenades, and trying desperately not to drop either. Running to meet the private before he did drop anything, she recognized who it was when they got near each other.

"Thank-you, Private Farn," she called out

Handing the cannon to Solasta saying, "It's fully charged and I brought a spare energy pack."

Solasta grinned and gave the young man a nod, before turning and heading to the speeder pad.

As she made her way across the fort she remembered the childhood stories of how the stronghold the separatists now occupied used to be a base for the black market smugglers and how it was constructed inside the active volcano that dominated the western half of the island, a short distance past Oradam Village, but that was all she knew. Growing up on the mainland, it was all rumours and stories as to what was really inside the volcano, but nobody she knew had ever been brave enough to venture close enough to see firsthand for themselves, and the mission notes that Tavus had prepared were brief to the point it only stated that they planned to assault the stronghold head-on and included a map showing their route up the speeder path to the main entrance.

When the speeder pad was in sight she stopped her brisk pace and paused for a moment to look over her shoulder and wondered if she should send an update to Garza first, but decided her odds were much better if she didn't delay and followed in the wake of Havoc's path before the separatists had time to react and bolster their security.

* * *

Climbing off the speeder in Oradam Village, Solasta slung her cannon over her shoulder and began walking west through the village. She hadn't gone far when she noticed a familiar face approaching with a crate of food supplies in his hands, and Zak easily recognized the tall Republic Soldier.

"Thanks again, sir. Jaller won't speak to me, but at least I have been given the chance that she will someday."

Solasta gave a slight nod and said, "you're welcome," before letting her eyes drift past Zak towards the top of the volcano that rose above the village wall behind the man. Zak turned his head to follow Solasta's gaze, and she asked, "You don't happen to know a safe route in there, do you?"

Leaning closer to Solasta, the man looked up at her helmet and lowered his voice saying, "if you go the south west wall of the village and climb over, you can walk straight up a ledge to the front door."

Patting Zak on the shoulder she thanked him and started towards the western wall where she dropped over the top and found a well worn path atop the ridge that ran alongside the speeder path below. Carefully she followed the trail up the side of the volcano, and scanned the areas around the separatist soldiers that were stationed every few hundred meters from her safe vantage point, and was puzzled by what she saw.

 _There isn't any evidence of blaster fire, any wounded or dead._ _How did Havoc get into the stronghold? They didn't have much of a head start, and the sep's couldn't have redeployed soldiers to all these spots that quickly if a battle had been waged by Havoc to get inside the stronghold,_ Solasta wondered.

Reaching the plateau where the main doors to the stronghold were constructed she hid behind a rock outcropping and analyzed her position. The main gate was built into the volcano's rock face and appeared to be nothing more than a blast door approximately twelve meters across for vehicle access. It was closed and a regular door for foot traffic, to the left of the blast door, was wide open and guarded by a Separatist Commander and two soldiers.

Powering up her cannon and releasing the safety, she stepped from behind her cover and sprayed the three separatists with plasma bolts, tearing holes in their armor and killing them instantly. Never tired of the adrenaline rush that she felt when firing a heavy cannon, and inside her helmet Solasta wore a wide grin.

Inside the door, the visor in her helmet adjusted for the dim lighting nearly as fast as her eyes did, and the acrid sulphur smell from the volcano's gasses assaulted her sensitive nose even through the filters in her helmet. She could see that a wide hallway had been carved into the volcano and extended deeper towards the magma chamber at the center. At the end of the hall was an open blast door, beyond that she could see several parked vehicles, a few separatists moving around, and could hear the dull churn of machinery.

Advancing forward while staying closed to the wall on her left, she walked on the smooth rock floor until she neared what appeared to be a cross-roads and slowed her pace to allow the tunnel on her right to slowly reveal itself. She saw the hull of a large speeder come into view, then a separatist mechanic who was lying beneath it and working on the engines while another separatist stood at a data console with his back to Solasta. Pressing herself to the wall she peeked her head around the corner, and saw a Separatist Commander talking with three soldiers in the room behind her.

Pulling out a plasma grenade she armed the timer and rolling it hard across the floor, watched as it bounced off the leg of the mechanic. A loud "Hey!" was all she heard before the grenade detonated, followed shortly by the speeder in a bright flash. Within seconds she could hear the heavy steps of the separatists from the room behind her approaching and took a deep breath before rolling around the corner to spray plasma bolts at the four soldiers running towards her, and grinned wickedly at the sight of their surprised faces. When they had been dispatched she hid against the wall inside the intersection and waited for a rush of the separatists, but it never came.

Solasta cautiously peeked around the corner to the sight of the separatists in the room beyond working as though nothing had happened, so hugging the wall she advanced further into the stronghold. With every meter she travelled the sound of the machinery got louder and felt a shiver run through her core when she started hear tortured screams mixed into the cacophony of noise.

Reaching the bottom of the ramp and hiding outside the blast door she could see what was going on inside the inner room better. Watching as a lifter droid with a pallet of crates glided past the open door she took this opportunity to run inside and snuck alongside the droid until she could hide behind a stack of shipping containers.

Looking around the room nothing appeared to have been damaged by blaster burns or plasma grenades, and the separatists continued on working as though Havoc had never been there. The sounds of the machinery and screams were even louder here and appeared to be emanating from the hallway to her right that led to an open area that had to be the volcano's central chamber. Now she understood why the separatists didn't hear the explosions or cannon fire in the main entrance earlier.

Solasta waited until the separatists appeared distracted with their work before sneaking down the hallway and carefully swept both the path ahead and behind her with cannon until she stepped into the open central chamber and was immediately hit by the hot stifling air. Feeling her fur prickle from the intense heat, she pulled off her helmet and dropped it on the ground as she panted between her teeth.

The sounds of machinery and screaming she heard wasn't either of those things.

The deafening roar of the thick magma being forced from the planet's core, along with the screaming of pockets of super-heated gasses expanding and exploding, in the orange-red sea that violently churned beneath her overwhelmed and pained her ears.

The rock ledge she was standing on was high above the molten magma and she could see metal ramps winding around the inside of the volcano, leading up to balconies attached to the rock face for access to other rooms that had been constructed into the rock, and the uppermost section was a shuttle pad opening with a shimmering bright magenta barrier field. Below her, a large durasteel deck had been built and, she could see more separatist soldiers casually going about their business moving cargo around, and it was clear that there hadn't been any fighting inside the stronghold, which meant Havoc must have been ambushed before they even had a chance to begin their assault.

Solasta didn't need to worry about hiding the sound of her steps and moved quickly as she climbed the durasteel ramps, ducking behind cover as she moved. She was now convinced there was a leak at HQ and Tavus' decision to dismiss it as something that they would look into later may have gotten Havoc captured, or worse.

 _Who at HQ would have access to all their ops and communications?_ she wondered before the realization of who the most likely suspect struck her.

Lieutenant Jorgan.

The lieutenant coordinated all of their operations and had access to all the intel files. She had been sent to observe and report on Tavus' activity, but she began to question why Jorgan had her running around alone doing errands for Havoc, while he probably leaked information to the separatists the entire time.

Solasta felt a pit in her stomach and swallowed hard to keep from vomiting when it dawned on her that Jorgan most likely sent her into the stronghold to get captured or killed, along with the rest of her squad. If Jorgan was a traitor, he would be watching her progress through the armor-cam on her armor and most likely was relaying it to the sep's, which might explain why there didn't seem to be much resistance thus far. If that were true, then whatever was waiting for her ahead couldn't be good. She took a deep breath and decided to push on, regardless of her suspicions she needed to try and disable the ZR-57.

Nearing the top of the first ramp she spied three separatists standing next the railing of the balcony in conversation. The soldier who was facing her raised his hand and pointed at her, eyes wide with a look of surprise on his face. Solasta raced forward to the top of the ramp, unleashing a volley of plasma into the soldiers and felled two of them, but the third managed to evade her fire and was drawing his blaster pistol when she reached him and swinging her cannon hard, she knocked him backwards over the railing.

Solasta raised an eyebrow and muttered, "Hmm," and turned to see three more separatist soldiers standing at the green barrier that illuminated the doorway of the room that was carved into the volcano wall behind her. One of the soldiers pressed at the keypad from his side and the barrier flickered briefly before disappearing. Solasta's reflexes took over, she squeezed the trigger on the cannon to spray the them with plasma and felt a blaster bolt glance off her shoulder as the separatists fired wildly at her. When the soldiers fell she pressed herself against the rock wall and peered around the corner into the room to find a row of communication terminals inside the now empty room.

She walked inside the room and pulled out the spike from her pack, but hesitated and wondered if it would even work or if it was this just another misdirection by Jorgan. Taking a deep breath she inserted it into a data port and moved to the terminal where the console lit up, spewed several lines of code across the screen, then simply blinked a message, " _ZR-57 deactivation: complete._ "

Solasta stared at the message for few seconds before realizing her holo-com was vibrating, and pulling it from her belt she was greeted by the image of Jorgan. "You did it, Sergeant! We're all proud of you. Finding Havoc is now priority one. If they've been captured, they might be able to tell us more about what's going on in there."

Solasta studied his face intently to try to identify any traces of deceit in his words or expressions, but couldn't find duplicity in either. She knew better than anyone how well Cathar could feign their outward emotions and grunted a frustrated, "Yes, sir!"

The pit in her stomach now knotted at the thought she could be walking into an ambush of her own, and continued further up the ramps towards the balcony that led to the shuttle bay.

* * *

Reaching the uppermost balcony, she hadn't encountered any separatists along the way and was surprised to find that it this area was unguarded as well. Keying the green barrier at the door she slipped inside, reactivated it, and readied herself for whatever laid ahead. The control room was empty and it wasn't until she turned the corner into the flight deck that saw anyone.

Solasta instinctively ducked behind the bank of control terminals, and from there she could see Havoc Squad casually standing next to an Imperial shuttle while Tavus talked with an Imperial Officer. Nobody had their weapons drawn and everyone appeared to be relaxed. She snuck behind the terminals until she was directly across from Commander Tavus and throwing herself over terminal in front of her.

"Commander!" Solasta yelled as she ran across the deck with her cannon ready.

Tavus raised his eyebrows and he raised his hands to motion for Solasta to stop, saying, "Sergeant, I though my orders were clear. You aren't supposed to be here."

Solasta's ears twitched at the sound of a safety being released from behind her, and looking over her shoulder stood Wraith with her blaster rifle pointed at her.

"I'll take her," said Wraith.

Tavus raised a hand to halt her, "No. The sergeant deserves to know the truth."

Shouldering her rifle, Wraith walked around Solasta and joined Tavus

"I hoped it wouldn't come to this. I harbour no ill will towards you. You're everything a warrior should be, but I'm afraid the Republic no longer values her warriors-even those who are the very best among them."

"Sir? That's no excuse for consorting with the Imperials," said Solasta.

"The truth is that no matter what they say, the Senate doesn't believe it can win another war against the Empire. You and I are a threat to that—every Havoc Squad victory fires up people's imaginations and fills them with pride, which means the bureaucrats can't afford for us to keep winning."

"We can, Commander Tavus. We have to win. The Imperials must be defeated."

Tavus sighed heavily and said, "If only you'd been with us longer, Sergeant. You would understand. Maybe be less naive and idealistic- you might even come with us."

"To join the Imperials? Why would I do that?" asked Solasta.

"The Republic bureaucrats abandoned us during our mission on Ando Prime. They simply left us to die, but I won't try to persuade you, Sergeant."

Solasta's ear flattened and she hissed at Tavus, "I'll never be a traitor like you," and glared at the members of Havoc.

Fuse spoke up, "Oh, uh, by the way, good work finding the ZR-57, Sergeant."

Glaring at the young soldier she said, "you knew where it was the whole time didn't you."

"Yeah, uh, we did. But we needed to keep you busy until we finished negotiating with the Imp's."

Gearbox laughed, "Sergeant, you were sitting right on top of the ZR-57 your first day here. If the aim on that idiot separatist with the rocket launcher had been off three degrees, we would have all been dust."

"Time we were off," said Tavus, and looking at the Imperial officer he asked, "Colonel Vorr, could you please give Sergeant Dinn the warrior's death that she deserves?"

Stunned, Solasta stood and watched as Havoc turned and started to walk up the ramp of the Imperial shuttle. It wasn't until she heard the safeties releasing from the Imperial rifles and felt a bolt pass within inches of her head, that she remembered where she was and dove behind a skid of containers. She sat there for several minutes listening to the sound of blaster bolts peppering the crates, and in her head she prayed to the Gods that there wasn't anything explosive inside them.

When the firing stopped, she threw a handful of plasma grenades over top of the crates and counted to three before she stood up and unloaded her cannon at the Imp's who were trying to scatter. She growled and kept firing until her cannon overheated and locked out her trigger. Dropping to her knees, she covered her face with both hands and fought the urge to hyperventilate when she realized that her entire mission had been nothing but a child's game to keep her busy while Havoc Squad, the Republic's Elite Forces planned their defection to the Empire.

Within minutes she felt her holo-com vibrating and it was Jorgan calling, "Sergeant, you need to get out of there now! We have a shuttle inbound, but you'll need to meet them outside on the balcony for extraction, understood?"

Solasta gasped a hoarse, "Yes, sir"


	10. Chapter 10

Solasta watched from the balcony as the republic shuttle descended smoothly into the mouth of the volcano.

and began to visibly shudder as the super-heated gasses from the lava below bounced it around like a leaf caught in a violent breeze once it dipped below the shielded landing bay opening that was carved into the side of the volcano wall a few meters above her. As she watched, she could only imagine the fight the pilot was having to keep the ship steady when she heard shouts from the separatists who came to investigate the unscheduled shuttle that arrived.

Looking over the edge of the railing at the Commando's running up the catwalks below her, Solasta grabbed her last three plasma grenades and threw them to the landing far beneath her and watched as two bounced around the metal grating at the feet of the soldiers while the third rolled into the lava and detonated immediately. The roar of the volcano masked any sounds of the explosion, but the resulting explosion forced a column of molten rock to shoot upwards and onto the separatists, and the blood curdling screams were short lived before the other grenades exploded, silencing their suffering.

Returning her attention to the shuttle that now bobbled across from her, she watched as the outer door slid open and a republic soldier standing inside motioned for Solasta to come to him while he mouthed the words 'jump' as his voice was also drowned out by the roar of the volcano and the whining of the shuttle's engines fighting to hold a position. Dropping her cannon, Solasta backed-up a few paces before running to the balcony's edge and pushing off from the railing with her feet to leap across the short void and into the open door on the shuttle where the soldier grabbed her by the arm and guided her inside.

Flying back to Fort Garnik, Solasta took a seat and looked out the small window at the jagged volcanic landscape that passed by outside and tried to reason why the rest of Havoc Squad would defect to the Empire. _What happened on Ando Prime that would push the Republic's entire elite assault squad to this? How did I not notice this? I should have suspected something when they all treated me at arm's length,_ she thought.

Her wonder turned to anger and embarrassment when the shuttle began approaching the landing pads and she realized that she would have to face Lieutenant Jorgan soon, _how could I have been so wrong about the Lieutenant? I was certain he was the mole, passing information to the Imperials, when all along he was being manipulated by Commander Tavus and the rest of Havoc as well,_ she thought.

Rushing from the shuttle pads to HQ, Solasta stormed into the Ops Room but slowed her pace when she found Lieutenant Jorgan pacing in front of a tall, thin, balding man wearing a field uniform and a General's insignia. Deep inside she snickered at the sight of the General's mustache that ran along his upper lip and draped down each side of his mouth like a door frame, and despite appearing to have both his biological eyes, he had an optical enhancement implant mounted to his forehead above the left one. Nearing the two men she could hear the heated conversation that was taking place in lowered voices and took a deep breath to strengthen her resolve. She wondered if it would even be possible to conceal her embarrassment and guilt at having accused Jorgan; even if it was only in her mind, when his Cathar abilities to observe her body language would be just as finely tuned as her own.

"General, with all due respect, how can you do this? I've served with the Infantry Command for years," growled Jorgan as he paced.

"That's enough Jorgan. This wasn't my decision. A defection of this scale— someone has to swing, and that powers that be say it's you," said the General in an even and calm tone.

"Sergeant Solasta Dinn, reporting in, sir," and she came to attention, saluting the General crisply.

Jorgan spun around to face her and pointed a finger at her saying, "Your squad of traitors just destroyed my career, I've been demoted to Sergeant— command can't punish them, so they're burning me instead."

If Solasta hadn't already been feeling the weight of falsely accusing him, he had just taken a clear shot at her that would make any visible uneasiness understandable.

The General returned the salute before speaking, "You must be our last loyal Havoc member. I'm General Vander, Republic Chief of Ops for Ord Mantell. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Sergeant Dinn. Please stand easy." Solasta remained in a stiff and prone stance and clasped her hands casually in front her as General Vander continued.

"On behalf of the Republic and people of Ord Mantell, I want to thank and congratulate you for your courageous actions in neutralizing the ZR-57. Your heroic efforts saved countless innocent lives. In recognition of your valiant service, I hereby promote you to the rank of Lieutenant. Congratulations."

A sharp and angry chuff sound escaped Jorgan as he thought, _this kid gets a promotion while_ _I'm being offered as a scapegoat for Havoc's defection. She should be held equally responsible, if not more since she should have seen this coming._

Ignoring Jorgan, the General continued, "Lieutenant Dinn, as the last remaining member of Havoc Squad, the duty of rebuilding the squad falls to you. Havoc is now under your command, and to get the process started I've assigned Sergeant Jorgan as Havoc's first new member."

Solasta looked at Jorgan and forced her enthusiasm as she said, "I'd be glad to have you in the squad, Sergeant."

"I'll take the Havoc patch and sergeant stripes if it means I get to grind them into Tavus' face before we kill him," growled Jorgan between clenched teeth.

Solasta watched as General Vander's face softened and he sighed. "This is the best I can do for you, Aric," and extended his hand to Aric.

Aric looked at the Generals hand and hesitated for a few seconds before extending his own hand and shook it.

The General smiled before saying, "You're a good man, and we need good people now more than ever."

The general turned his attention to the both of them and said, "Dinn, Jorgan - I don't know what Tavus is planning, but he knows the inner workings of the republic military better than anyone. The danger he poses is limitless."

"Sir, did we get a fix on where the traitors are heading?" asked Solasta.

"Unfortunately they slipped off-world before we could track them. You'll have to hunt them down and bring them to justice. In any case, your work here is done and a shuttle is being prepped to take you to Coruscant for your next assignment. Once you arrive, you'll report to the head of SpecForces, General Garza. She'll be issuing your orders from now on."

"Understood," said Solasta, and they both saluted General Vander as he dismissed them.

Stepping outside HQ Solasta looked at Jorgan and said, "Sergeant, meet me at the shuttle pad in two hours, there's something I have to do on the mainland before we leave."

Jorgan raised his hand in protest saying, "I'm not letting my new CO wander around the mainland in the middle of a civil war."

"I'll be fine. Go get packed," and she turned towards her barracks to go change her uniform when she heard Jorgan's voice behind her.

"Respectfully Lieutenant Dinn - No sir."

Turning back to look at Jorgan, she could see the commitment in his stone-faced expression. "Alright, go change into some civilian clothes, bring a concealed blaster only, and meet me at the shuttles to the mainland in fifteen minutes."

Without blinking Jorgan said, "Understood," before turning on his heel and walking briskly in the direction of his barracks.

Solasta returned to Havoc's barracks and opened her locker to retrieve the datapad so she could update General Garza but as she dug through her uniforms she realized it was missing. Whoever planted it there a few days earlier had retrieved it.

* * *

Walking through the mainland base, they headed straight for the ground transportation yard and Solasta motioned Jorgan towards the row of speeder bikes and said, "get us something unmarked and bring it here," as she stepped into the small pillbox building inside the gates surrounding the yard, and waited. When Jorgan rode up, she began tapping at the console while he read out the speeder bike's registry number so they could sign-out the vehicle.

Once everything was in order, Solasta stepped outside and stood staring at Jorgan until he noticed her, and said "Hop on."

"Do you know where we're going, or how to get there unseen?"

"Well... No, sir."

"Then slide back," said Solasta as she motioned for him to move to the passenger seat behind the driver. Jorgan grunted his displeasure but slid back so she could throw her leg over the speeder, and sitting on the speeder bike she revved the engine and set them into flight while calling out "hold on" over her shoulder.

Riding for nearly thirty standard minutes through the rough terrain of Ord Mantell, and well off the main speeder paths, the cooled lava formations of igneous rock that jutted violently from the ground occasionally broke into broad flat stretches of fertile fields that were used by farmers for crop lands and ranchers for their herds of Gapillian or Nerf. Leaning against Solasta's back to get closer to her ear, Jorgan yelled, "Where are we going, sir?"

"To a storage facility just ahead. There are some items I need to retrieve," answered Solasta, and she could feel Jorgan nod an affirmative as his chin gently bumped her shoulder.

When the storage facility came into sight and Solasta reduced the throttle so they could park the speeder bike next to a large hole in the wall that surrounded the unmarked complex. Carefully, Solasta crept through the massive hole in the wall that an incendiary device had created and began to worry that the storage units had been damaged, or worse, looted. Jorgan following closely behind her with his right hand inside the chest of his jacket and grasping at the blaster pistol he had hidden inside.

Walking between the rows of buildings, Solasta noticed the scoring on the walls from a blaster fire fight and thought, _if the separatists did attack, clearly they weren't successful at getting into any of the units since none of the doors appeared to be forced open._

When the familiar storage unit came into sight, she sped up her pace and quickly keyed the lock on the door, and a sense of relief washed over her when the door let out a groan before it released from it's captive position, opening slightly so she could push it wide enough for her and Jorgan to walk through. Inside, Jorgan studied the antique Desler speeder that rested on supports in the middle of the narrow room and whistled low saying, "now there's a piece of history,"

Solasta walked over to the power cells that were connected to a charging station that sat against the wall and groaned when Solasta realized the station no longer was powered. Picking up the cells, hoping one of them may have been able to retain enough charge for one last use, she approached the speeder and placed them on the speeder's bonnet.

Inserting one cell after another into the power receptacle on the speeder, Solasta held her breath each time until she was rewarded with the telltale hum of the systems coming back to life and resumed breathing as she walked to the rear of the speeder, keyed the access code, and pulled out two locked security boxes from the cargo compartment. Handing one to Jorgan, she said, "Let's get these secured to the speeder, then get the hell out of here."

She watched as Jorgan stepped outside before pulling the power cell from the speeder's receptacle and place it next to the other drained cells on the driver seat. Resting her hand on the windshield, she affectionately grinned and whispered, "I have to leave this piece of you here, Dad."

Picking up the security box in front of her, Solasta noticed the dulled orange and white Waveboard that leaned against the wall, covered with dust, and stared at it briefly and thought, _goodbye to you too_.

Outside, she met Jorgan at the speeder, and they returned to the mainland base without saying a word to each other.

* * *

"Where's your cannon, sir?" asked Jorgan when he noticed that Solasta only carried her pack as they walked together through the busy base towards the spaceport.

"I had to leave it behind in the separatist's base when I bugged out, sergeant."

"Didn't we just have that flown in for you from the mainland? I hope losing your weapons isn't habit of yours, sir."

"No, but losing my boots is."

Jorgan stopped walking as a quizzical look came over his face and he asked, "Boots, lieutenant?"

Solasta kept walking and said, "Yes sergeant, and don't get any ideas— I _hate_ nicknames."

At the spaceport, they found a shuttle waiting for them, just as General Vander had said, and hurried on-board when they noticed the crew were ready to launch and appeared to only be waiting on them. Solasta stowed her gear and sat, motioning for Jorgan to take the seat beside her, but he walked past her without making eye contact and sat by himself at the other end of the shuttle; stretching out in his seat and closing his eyes, without saying a word to her.

When the shuttle door was closed and they began their ascent, someone from the cockpit spoke over the intercom saying, "Apologies Havoc, we have been asked to make a stop at Carrick Station. Once we arrive you will have approximately one standard hour before we continue onto Coruscant. Feel free to disembark and do some sightseeing."

Leaning back in her set, Solasta closed her eyes and slept until they arrived at Carrick.

Once they were clear to open the airlock door, Aric and Solasta walked across the shuttle bay to the elevators where they rode up to the public section on one of the upper rings of the station, and walked around in the pale artificial light that bathed the section.

"Let's get something to eat, sir." said Jorgan as he pointed to a cafe that had a modest patio where they could watch the pedestrian traffic move around.

An overly cheerful host-droid seated them with menus that had been printed onto sheets of flimsiplast, and reassured that their serving droid would be along shortly. Solasta looked around at what other people had ordered at the nearby tables, but didn't see anything that interested her so she asked, "any recommendations?"

Jorgan looked up from his menu with a fixed expression and asked, "Lieutenant, how did you know about that storage facility or the boxes we retrieved?"

"Sergeant, the information regarding the facility and boxes is classified."

Jorgan furrowed his brow and grunted, "Figures."

"Is there a problem?"

Jorgan blew out a breath and the usual hardened expression on his face relaxed slightly before he said, "No sir. I'm still mad at Tavus and the rest of Havoc, but I suppose that's no excuse for me to take it out on you. You're new to the squad and were just as surprised as I was at the turn of events. It's just going to take a little time to adjust to the changes."

Solasta briefly considered sharing with Jorgan that she had suspected him of being the Imperial mole but decided against it since she knew that it would deeply offend his Cathar sense of honour and loyalty. It also meant she could continue to hide her embarrassment at having suspected he was involved. The serving droid that approached and interrupted her thoughts was a welcome break to the awkward silence.

When their food arrived they both relaxed and talked as they ate; Aric told stories of his days as a member of the Deadeyes, and Solasta sat quietly listening until they needed to head back to their shuttle and continue their travels to Coruscant for a meeting with General Garza.


End file.
